Rip-off Jersey!

Thursday 11 September 2014

Another report has shown that Islanders are paying well over the odds for basic necessities asking the question: when is someone going to do something about “rip-off Jersey”?

According to the latest figures, fresh veg is about 40% more expensive here than in the UK, fresh fruit about 33% more expensive and fresh meat around a sixth more expensive.

And the same report has shown that if you take out the different levels of tax in the UK and Jersey, the prices of dutiable goods are far higher here – unleaded petrol costs about 50% more pre-tax, while a pint costs around 40% more, whisky is about 33% more, and a packet of 20 cigarettes costs 24p more in Jersey than the UK.

Shops normally try to justify the prices by claiming that extra shipping costs and higher operating costs for property and wages inflate the costs that they have to pass on to consumers in the Island.

The Price Comparisons Report released by the independent Statistics Unit compares prices here against prices from across the UK compiled by the Office for National Statistics – it also shows that over the course of the last nine years, the total effect of inflation in Jersey and Guernsey (29%) has been almost the same as in the UK (27%).

The report throws up some key discrepancies in prices, including:

-          Petrol has gone up by 0.5p per litre in Jersey in the last 12 months, compared to a 4p drop in the UK.

-          In the last nine years the cost of fresh fish has risen 23% here compared to 61% in the UK.

-          Also in the last nine years, rents have gone up 36% here compared to 27% in the UK.

There are four more sets of major statistics out between now and the election on 15th October. The Retail sales index (17 September), GVA figures measuring actual economic performance (1 October), the Labour Market Report measuring employment by sector (8 October) and the Business Tendency Survey that measures confidence and opinions across different parts of the economy (10 October).