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The cost of fresh fruit, vegetable and meat is up to a third higher in Jersey than it is in the UK, according to the latest stats out this morning.
And the pre-tax costs of alcohol, fuel and cigarettes are also way above prices on the mainland – before tax is taken into account, Islanders are paying almost £1 more for a pint, 20 pence per litre more for fuel and 14p more for cigarettes.
Once the effects of tax are taken into account, the retail price for cigarettes and fuel are actually lower here than in the UK.
The independent States Statistics Unit has published figures comparing the prices of basic essentials here and in the UK. Their work is based on comparing the price of a “shopping basket” of 5,000 individual items four times a year to figures published on the mainland.
Retailers tend to blame the costs of shipping goods to the Island for the difference in costs.
The figures show:
- The price of fruit was 33% higher in Jersey, with Islanders paying 58 pence more for a kilo of bananas, and £1.50 more for a kilo of grapes.
- The price of vegetables was 39% higher in Jersey, with Islanders paying almost twice as much for a cucumber, and 78% more for an iceberg lettuce.
- The price of meat was around 17% higher in Jersey, with Islanders paying 82 pence more for a fresh chicken, and 51 pence more for a packet of ham.
- The price of a pint of milk is 44% higher than people pay in the UK, while a dozen eggs is 42% more.
- A pint of beer costs around 50 pence more here than it does in the UK, but if you take tax out of the equation, the cost difference almost doubles.
- The cost of housing has risen faster in Jersey than it has in the UK and water rates have continued to rise here while actually falling in the mainland – the one exception to the trend is domestic rates, because Council Tax has risen far faster in the UK than parish rates have in Jersey.
The report showed the following differences between some basic staples, in both real terms and percentages:
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