Comparison of consumer prices June 2008

02 September 2008

The purpose of this report is to compare prices in Jersey, Guernsey and the UK by looking at the RPI for each jurisdiction

Comparison of consumer prices June 2008 

Headlines:   

The annual changes in the RPIs in Jersey, Guernsey and the UK were higher in June 2008 than in June 2007, with global increases in commodity and oil prices being key group level drivers to the rates of increase for all jurisdictions.

The introduction of the Goods and Services Tax in Jersey accounted for about 1.9 percentage points of the overall annual change in the Jersey June 2008 RPI, spread across the groups. The annual change in RPI(Y), a measure of underlying inflation which removes the effect of mortgage interest payments as well as the effect of indirect taxes, was 3.9% in June 2008 in Jersey compared to 4.9% in the UK.

Over the last year, the Food group of the RPI increased by 13% in Jersey, 10% in the UK and 7% in Guernsey. If the effect of GST is removed, Food prices in Jersey increased at the same rate as in the UK (10%) from June 2007 to June 2008.

Direct food comparisons show that average meat prices were about 13% higher in Jersey than in the UK in June 2008 and the cost of fresh fruit and vegetables in Jersey were over a quarter higher.

Largely as a result of different rates of increase of impôts and duties since June 2000, alcohol and tobacco prices have seen greater overall increases in Jersey and Guernsey than in the UK.

Over the last eight years motoring costs, overall, have increased significantly more in Jersey and Guernsey than in the UK.

Pre-tax prices for alcohol, tobacco and motor fuels are higher in Jersey than in the UK: alcohol by over a quarter; cigarettes by more than four-fifths (82%); and petrol and diesel by around a third.

Pre-tax prices of beer, whisky and petrol are slightly lower in Jersey than Guernsey; whereas the pre-tax price of tobacco is similar in both jurisdictions.

For further information on the Comparison of consumer prices and other statistical releases, please visit the Statistics Unit website.

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