British prices plunge
BRITISH PRICES PLUNGE
Brits Benefit From Deflation, finds International Price Comparison Study
DATE: 10th December 2008: Plunging prices on essential and luxury items means that Britain has fallen from being the second to the seventh most expensive country to live and shop in the world.
Now in its sixth year, the International Price Comparison study from PriceRunner.co.uk, the impartial price comparison service, tracks the prices of basic foods such as milk and coffee, popular consumer gadgets and travel and entertainment goods like petrol, bus tickets and DVDs. Carried out in 23 countries, it shows that Britain is now cheaper than France (3), Ireland (4) and Denmark (2). Norway is revealed as the world’s most expensive country for the second year running and as in 2007, China is the cheapest country overall.
| Five most expensive countries 2007 | Five most expensive countries 2008 |
| Norway | Norway |
| England | Denmark |
| Sweden | France |
| France | Ireland |
| Denmark | Sweden |
| Five cheapest countries 2007 | Five cheapest countries 2008 |
| China | China |
| Lithuania | Hungary |
| Poland | Lithuania |
| Portugal | USA |
| Hungary | Portugal |
*please see notes to editors for full country listings
Prices on essentials such as condoms and nappies have fallen in the UK. In 2007, a box of 12 Durex condoms would have set you back £7.57 but in 2008 only cost £6.89, a drop of nine percent. The price of nappies fell by almost five per cent (£5.66 to £5.40).
It is good news for British gamers too, as the study found that games consoles have dropped in price the most. An Xbox 360 has decreased by almost 60% (£100) in the period October 2007 – October 2008 in the UK, suggesting that if you didn’t get one for Christmas last year, you might stand a good chance if you add it to your Christmas list for 08. Playstation 3s and Nintendo Wiis have also fallen in price, 16.7% and seven per cent respectively.
A bottle of Absolut Vodka 70cl will set you back a staggering £24.32 in Norway compared to just £5.36 in China, a difference of 78%. Visitors to Norway are also advised to avoid soft drinks, cigarettes and fast food, with Norway topping the poll on a sixth of the 24 items researched and coming close to the top of the list for most of the others.
Peter Carlsson, General Manager, PriceRunner.co.uk, said: “For the first time in the study’s history Britain was not the most expensive for any product. Whilst we still pay more than many countries on the majority of items, it is good to see that prices in Britain are starting to fall on both essentials and luxuries. With the recent VAT cuts that come into effect this week, hopefully we can continue to become a more competitively priced place to live and shop.”
Impact of VAT cuts
After Chancellor Alisdair Darling’s announcement dropping VAT from 17.5% to 15%, it’s even better news for British shoppers looking for a bargain. High ticket items bring you the biggest savings, for example, a new Macbook Air would set you back £1,199 with 17.5% VAT but could drop an estimated £25.51 under the new budget. Even lower priced products such as a Canon Powershot digital camera can bring noticeable savings with the camera costing an estimated £8.28 less under the new budget.
Anticipated cost savings from high street retailers
| Product | 17.5% VAT | 15% VAT | Cost saving |
| Laptop, Macbook Air | £1,199 | £1173.49 | £25.51 |
| LCD-TV, Samsung LE40A656 | £1016 | £994.38 |
£21.62 |
| Digital Camera, Canon Powershot G9 |
£389.33 |
£381.05 |
£8.28 |
| Sony Playstation 3 80GB | £299.99 | £293.60 | £6.39 |
Christmas gadget bargains!
With Christmas just a few weeks away, trips to the US could prove particularly fruitful if you’re planning on grabbing the latest gadgets. A Canon Powershot G9 digital camera is cheapest in the US, costing just £270, however the same camera in Denmark will set you back a bank-breaking £422.40, and a whopping £389.33 in the UK, 30.7% more than the US.
Mp3 players are also cheapest in America, with a 16GB iPod touch costing just £173.07 compared to a jaw dropping £235.94 in Lithuania, a sizeable difference of 26.6%. The study also advises consumers to avoid Lithuania for games consoles as you risk paying up to 63.5% more, a Nintento Wii will set you back nearly £400 (£396.83) compared to just £144.70 in the Big Apple. The study found that overall the price of games consoles globally seems to have plummeted in the last 12 months.
Other key findings
- For the first time since the study started the UK is not the most expensive country for cinema tickets at £9.16, falling to third place behind Japan (£10.00) and Denmark (£9.18). Lithuania is top of the flicks, a ticket will set you back just £3.15
- Public transport has remained steady with no change on 2007 prices for bus travel reported in the U.K.
- The price of cigarettes continues to rise in the U.K. with 20 Marlboro Lights now costing £5.56, up from £5.33 last year. Smokers are best avoiding Norway, where a pack of 20 will cost you an eye watering £6.48, an unbelievable 86.9% more than Shanghai, where 20 cigarettes cost just £0.85
- The price of milk in the UK has risen steadily up from £0.76 in 2007 to £0.88 in 2008. Tokyo is the most expensive place in the world to purchase milk at £1.38, compared to the Czech Republic where a pint costs just £0.43
- Vodka has dramatically risen in price in the UK, up 19% from 2007 (£12.16) to £14.99 in 2008. In Shanghai a bottle costs just £5.36
- Big Macs don’t change much where ever in the World you eat them but the price does! There is a 68% difference between bargain Shanghai (£1.06) and pricey Norway (£3.27), while the price of the popular burger is £2.09 in the UK, up from £1.99 in 2007
- Parents have had an easier ride in the UK this year with the price of nappies falling from £5.66 (2007) to £5.40 (2008). Parents are hit hardest in Italy, with a pack of 28 Pampers Nappies costing you £7.17 compared to just £4.38 in Greece
- Don’t go to Iceland for gadgets – the study unveils Iceland as the most costly place to buy luxury items such as games consoles, with an Xbox costing a whopping £284.84 compared to £154.20 in Belgium, 45.9% more. Iceland, fell in the middle of the global price index as the 13th most expensive country overall.
Overall country ranking 2008
| Ranking | Most Expensive |
| 1 | Oslo, Norway |
| 2 | Copenhagen, Denmark |
| 3 | Paris, France |
| 4 | Dublin, Ireland |
| 5 | Stockholm, Sweden |
| 6 | Helsinki, Finland |
| 7 | London, England |
| 8 | Amsterdam, Netherlands |
| 9 | Vienna, Austria |
| 10 | Madrid, Spain |
| 11 | Rome, Italy |
| 12 | Brussels, Belgium |
| 13 | Reykjavik, Iceland |
| 14 | Tokyo, Japan |
| 15 | Berlin, Germany |
| 16 | Athens, Greece |
| 17 | Prague, Czech |
| 18 | Warsaw, Poland |
| 19 | Lisbon, Portugal |
| 20 | New York, USA |
| 21 | San Francisco, USA |
| 22 | Vilnius, Lithuania |
| 23 | Budapest, Hungary |
| 24 | Shanghai, China |
| Cheapest |
Key Product Comparison UK
| 2003 | 2004 | 2005 | 2006 | 2007 | 2008 | |
| 1 litre of petrol | £0.78 | £0.84 | £0.95 | £0.95 | £0.98 | £1.11 |
| 1 litre of standard milk (3% fat) |
N/A | £0.53 | £0.62 | £0.64 | £0.76 | £0.88 |
| Absolut Vodka, 700ml | £13.82 | £17.49 | £18.75 | £14.49 | £12.16 | £14.99 |
| Cinema ticket for one adult on a Sat evening |
N/A | £9.93 | £8.53 | £8.83 | £8.90 | £9.17 |
| Coca Cola, 33 cl can | £0.92 | £0.85 | N/A | £0.43 | £0.39 | £0.43 |
| Coffee, 33 cl, take away, size small |
N/A | £1.28 | £1.42 | £1.49 | £1.50 | £1.57 |
| Condoms: Durex Elite, 12 pack |
£9.31 | £8.99 | £8.99 | £7.95 | £7.57 | £6.89 |
| Marlboro Lights, package of 20 cigarettes |
£4.95 | £4.93 | £5.03 | £5.10 | £5.33 | £5.56 |
| McDonald’s Big Mac burger only |
N/A | £1.30 | £1.99 | £1.99 | £1.99 | £2.09 |
| One way adult bus ticket in one city zone |
£1.00 | £1.00 | £1.20 | £1.50 | £2.00 | £2.00 |
For further information please contact:
Text 100
Dan Gamble Sam Lehane
T: 0208 846 0761 T: 0208 846 0708
E: dan.gamble@text100.co.uk E: sam.lehane@text100.co.uk
About the study
Where possible, three prices were collected for each product and the mean average was used as the country’s price for the product. No less than two prices per product per country have been used, with the exception of those products where prices are standardized, e.g. alcohol in Sweden or McDonalds. Prices, in most cases were collected from multiple-outlet retailer stores, to ensure that they are as closely representative of each country’s typical prices as possible.
The prices were collected October 1st to 21st, 2008
About PriceRunner
www.PriceRunner.co.uk, a division of ValueClick, Inc. (Nasdaq: VCLK), is the UK’s most comprehensive and independent price comparison company. Online prices are updated on a daily basis by a specialist team that develops and manages cutting edge technology which hunts down the cheapest online prices available. PriceRunner is unique in that, unlike other price comparison sites, a dedicated team of PriceRunners also checks prices in high street stores. PriceRunner always lists the cheapest price first and is completely independent in that it lists all retailers, regardless whether they pay or not, to provide consumers with a complete overview of the market.
About ValueClick, Inc.
ValueClick, Inc. (Nasdaq: VCLK) is one of the world’s largest online marketing services companies, offering comprehensive and scalable solutions to deliver cost-effective customer acquisition for advertisers and robust revenue streams for publishers. ValueClick’s performance-based solutions allow customers to reach their potential through multiple online marketing channels, including affiliate and search marketing, display advertising, lead generation, ad serving and email technology, and comparison shopping. ValueClick brands include Commission Junction, ValueClick Media, Mediaplex, PriceRunner and Smarter.com. For more information, visit www.valueclick.com.
This release contains forward-looking statements that involve risks and uncertainties, including, but not limited to, the risk that market demand for on-line advertising in general, and performance based on-line advertising in particular, will not grow as rapidly as predicted, and the risk that legislation and governmental regulation could negatively impact the Company’s performance. Actual results may differ materially from the results predicted, and reported results should not be considered an indication of future performance. Important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those expressed or implied in the forward-looking statements are detailed under “Risk Factors” and elsewhere in filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission made from time to time by ValueClick, including, but not limited to: its annual report on Form 10-K filed on February 29, 2008; recent quarterly reports on Form 10-Q; and other current reports on Form 8-K. ValueClick undertakes no obligation to release publicly any revisions to any forward-looking statements to reflect events or circumstances after the date hereof or to reflect the occurrence of unanticipated events.
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