§ Mr. ChopeTo ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what change there has been in the retail price of audio visual equipment in(a) the last year and (b) the last five years. [159964]
§ Miss Melanie JohnsonThe information requested falls within the responsibility of the National Statistician. I have asked him to reply.
Letter from Len Cook to Mr. Christopher Chope, dated 1 May 2001:
565WAs National Statistician, I have been asked to reply to your recent question on changes in the retail price of audio visual equipment in the last year and the last five years (159964).The Retail Prices Index (RPI) measures the average change from month to month in the prices of goods and services purchased by most households in the UK. Audio visual equipment is one of the published components within the leisure goods group of the RPI. It includes representative items such as televisions, sound systems, PCs and accessories and electronic instruments. The latest published data refers to March 2001.The following table gives the RPI index for audio visual equipment for March, in each of the last six years, together with the percentage change over each of the 12 month periods:
Retail Prices Index: Audio visual equipment Year Index (1987=100) Annual percentage change March 1996 70.6 — March 1997 65.9 -6.7 March 1998 59.8 -9.3 March 1999 49.4 -17.4 March 2000 42.5 -14.0 March 2001 36.4 -14.4 Between March 1996 and March 2001, the audio visual index fell by 48.4%. This information is published every month in the Consumer price indices First Release and on the National Statistics website (www.statistics.gov.uk).