Irish drinkers are the most put-upon in Europe. Figures published by the European Commission yesterday show that when relative pint-purchasing power (PPP) is taken into account Ireland's drinkers face the highest bills in Europe.
At the other end of the European drinkers' league, Spaniards enjoy their tipple at an average of a third of what we pay.
It's still true that the price of your sip in Denmark, Sweden, and Finland, is significantly more expensive in absolute terms - but the Commission explains that when the figures are adjusted to reflect the differences in income (parity purchasing power, PPP), Ireland just pips the Nordics to the post.
Not surprisingly, Eurostat's latest statistical survey of the EU finds that the Irish, at 15 per cent in value terms, devote nearly twice the proportion of their total private consumption to alcohol and tobacco, compared to their nearest rivals, the UK (8 per cent). The Italians' share of consumption devoted to booze and cigs is a mere 2.6 per cent.
The Commission's figures were issued yesterday as part of its campaign against price differentials in the single market and show wide price discrepancies (in PPP terms) between member-states on a wide range of goods. Ireland also features in the table as the cheapest place to buy industrial transport equipment.
The differential is widest, at four to one, on rents between Luxembourg and Portugal. On cars, the differential is two to one between Denmark and Luxembourg, but although the latter appears cheapest on this table, an Irish consumer would be well advised to avoid the duchy because income discrepancies make a nonsense of many such comparisons. Believe this regular visitor, Luxembourg is not cheap.
Denmark is consistently the most expensive of the member-states, with prices on average 77 percentage points higher than Portugal in purchasing parity terms. It tops the league in 16 out of 30 categories.
