asked the Secretary of State for Employment (1) if he will publish in theOfficial Report a table showing the food component of the retail price index in the form of an annual index from 1945 to the present day, indicating any break points caused by redefinition of the index where appropriate;(2) if he will publish in the
Official Report a table showing the retail price
index in the form of an annual index from 1945 to the present day, indicating any break points caused by redefinitions of the index where appropriate.
The information requested on the retail price index is given in the following table. It should be noted that, because of continual changes in the pattern of consumers' expenditure, price comparisons over long periods can only be regarded as approximate.
| INDICES OF RETAIL PRICES—UNITED KINGDOM ANNUAL AVERAGES 1945–77 | |||
| January 1974–100 | |||
| year | All items | Food | |
| 1945 | … | 29·0 | 23·4 |
| 1946 | … | 29·0 | 23·3 |
| 1947 | … | 29·2 | 22·7 |
| 1948 | … | 31·2 | 24·0 |
| 1949 | … | 32·0 | 25·3 |
| 1950 | … | 33·0 | 27·2 |
| 1951 | … | 36·0 | 30·3 |
| 1952 | … | 39·3 | 35·0 |
| 1953 | … | 40·5 | 37·0 |
| 1954 | … | 41·3 | 38·0 |
| 1955 | … | 43·1 | 40·8 |
| 1956 | … | 45·3 | 42·6 |
| 1957 | … | 46·9 | 43·7 |
| 1958 | … | 48·4 | 44·6 |
| 1959 | … | 48·6 | 45·1 |
| 1960 | … | 49·1 | 44·8 |
| 1961 | … | 50·8 | 45·5 |
| 1962 | … | 53·0 | 47·2 |
| 1963 | … | 54·0 | 48·4 |
| 1964 | … | 55·8 | 49·7 |
| 1965 | … | 58·4 | 51·5 |
| 1966 | … | 60·7 | 53·3 |
| 1967 | … | 62·3 | 54·7 |
| 1968 | … | 65·2 | 56·9 |
| 1969 | … | 68·7 | 60·5 |
| 1970 | … | 73·1 | 64·7 |
| 1971 | … | 80·0 | 71·8 |
| 1972 | … | 85·7 | 78·2 |
| 1973 | … | 93·5 | 89·9 |
| 1974 | … | 108·5 | 106·1 |
| 1975 | … | 134·8 | 133·3 |
| 1976 | … | 157·1 | 159·9 |
| 1977* | … | 180·2 | 189·3 |
| * The figures for 1977 are based on the nine months to September. | |||
Sources: The figures are derived from: