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Written question asked by Chris Ruane (Labour) on Thursday, 18 December 2008, in the House of Commons. It was due for an answer on Monday, 12 January 2009. It was answered by Lord Brennan of Canton (Labour) on Tuesday, 20 January 2009 on behalf of the Cabinet Office.


Alcoholic Drinks: Prices

Question
To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster what the average change in prices was for (a) beer and (b) wines and spirits on (i) sales and (ii) off sales in real terms in each year since 1987; and what the change in average weekly earnings was between each of those years.
Answer

The information requested falls within the responsibility of the UK statistics Authority. I have asked the authority to reply.Letter from Karen Dunnell, dated January 2009:"As National Statistician, I have been asked to reply to your recent Parliamentary Question asking what the average change in prices was for (a) beer and (b) wines and spirits on (i) sales and (ii) off sales in real terms in each year since 1987; and what the change in average weekly earnings was between each of those years. (246754)""The table below shows the annual percentage changes for the all items retail prices index and the components for beer and wines and spirits. The beer and wines and spirits data are available from 1988."

Retail Prices Index and components: annual percentage change
Beer Wine and spirits
Total RPI Total On sales Off sales Total On sales Off sales
1987 4.2
1988 4.9 6.1 6.3 4.0 3.6 5.2 2.5
1989 7.8 6.4 6.8 4.2 4.5 5.4 3.7
1990 9.5 10.0 10.4 6.8 9.2 9.8 8.7
1991 5.9 12.8 13.1 10.5 11.8 12.4 11.4
1992 3.7 6.7 7.1 5.0 6.0 6.7 5.4
1993 1.6 5.1 5.4 3.4 3.4 4.6 2.7
1994 2.4 3.1 3.8 -1.3 1.6 3.3 0.6
1995 3.5 4.2 4.4 2.6 3.1 5.0 2.2
1996 2.4 3.5 3.5 3.3 1.9 2.8 1.5
1997 3.1 3.7 3.9 3.0 1.4 3.3 0.3
1998 3.4 4.0 4.4 2.5 2.5 3.9 1.7
1999 1.5 3.2 3.6 1.5 1.7 3.2 0.8
2000 3.0 2.1 2.4 0.9 0.9 2.7 -0.4
2001 1.8 2.3 2.7 0.5 1.8 3.1 0.7
2002 1.7 2.3 2.8 -0.6 2.2 3.6 0.7
2003 2.9 2.2 3.0 -1.8 2.1 3.3 0.3
2004 3.0 2.0 2.9 -2.7 1.9 2.5 0.8
2005 2.8 2.3 3.4 -3.4 1.5 2.5 0.4
2006 3.2 2.9 3.4 -0.3 1.9 3.0 0.6
2007 4.3 3.5 3.9 0.7 2.4 3.4 1.2

"Details of percentage change in average earnings over the period 1987 to 2007 are shown in the following table:"

Average Earnings Index—GB
Annual averages Annual percentage change
1987 7.7
1988 8.7
1989 9.2
1990 9.8
1991 7.6
1992 5.9
1993 2.9
1994 3.7
1995 3.1
1996 3.6
1997 4.2
1998 5.2
1999 4.8
2000 4.5
2001 4.4
2002 3.5
2003 3.3
2004 4.5
2005 4.0
2006 4.1
2007 4.0

Secondary information

Type
Written question
Reference
486 c1324-6W; 246754
Session
2008-09
Subjects
Alcoholic drinks Prices
Contains statistics
Yes
Link
View this Written question on www.publications.parliament.uk