Shopping in France -

This is an updated version of the analysis begun in March 2012.

 To go to the index click here

Every four months or so since March 2012 I publish an analysis of Supermarket costs in Tescos (Milton Keynes) compared to Intermarché (Gourdon,  Lot, France)
March  2012 View it here....
  July 9th  it was repeated.
July 2012 View  here...
  December 2012 here
December 2012 View here.
  March 2013 here
March 2013 View here




The lists are not 'weekly shopping' lists and they need sensible interpretation. There are some curious items - q.v. coffee. The studious person will find other oddities - that is why it must be read with caution.  But it remains a guide.

But in the fact that the lists are identical they give some indication of how prices are going.
                                                                 INFLATION % compared to
                Tescos            Intermarché              previous entry                              Break even     Inflation over previous analysis
 2012         £             £ equiv.     In Euros       UK    France   Exchange rate        Exch. rate    for Br. Pensioners
March     80.11          90.68        104.23         --        --         87 pence =1 euro        76 p.                    --
July         87.53          85.38        108.04        9.2      3.6       79 pence = 1 euro       81 p.               -6.0%
Dec.        90.72          90.10        111.06         3.6      2.7       81 pence = 1 euro       81 p.              +5.5%
 2013
March     92.79        108.68        124.78        2.3      12.3      87.1 p =  1 euro         74 p.               +20%

Note that inflation rates in orange are calculated on the local currency. Otherwise the exchange rate influences the calculation.   Nevertheless for British people living in France relying on income from the UK the exchange rate is a hugely important factor. The last column gives this figure.

N.B. The last figures for March 2013 are so remarkable that I am inclined to recheck them. But I believe them to be reasonably accurate.  To say it again - overall prices for the last three months to March 2013 have caused the British RETIRED resident, whose income is derived entirely from the UK, an inflation of 20%. It is abundantly clear that the Euro is overvalued against the £. Or in other words the £ is very weak indeed. French inflation together with the weakening of the £ conspire to hit the Britons very hard.

EMIGRATION of British State Pensioners

To go to the beginning and to the  INDEX click here

The statistics on the world wide distribution of British State Pensioners has been published for  
MAY 2012 (on March 1st 2013).
See the original tabulation here -click
Certain information has been selected and tabulated below.  This publication follows various other postings of a similar nature on this site. See notably http://pensionersdebout.blogspot.fr/2011/11/british-pensioners-leave-britain-yet.html
The Index to this site lists others equally relevant.

The above table selects certain countries and the migration of British pensioners is listed and sorted according to the figures in the right hand column.  This column gives the PERCENTAGE change in migration in the LAST YEAR 2011-2012
The countries which hold the largest NUMBER are in order
Australia , Canada, USA, Ireland, then Spain and France.
In the last year five countries have seen a decrease - Four of those have frozen pensions.
Two significant countries with frozen pensions have seen increases - India and New Zealand.
The Netherlands and Switzerland have seen the highest %  change in the last year.
Spain, France and Ireland have experienced the greatest increase in actual numbers over the decade.
Pakistan and Jamaica show a remarkable % drop over the decade, but the number in Pakistan is relatively low.
The factors which influence this migration are quite varied.  Financial, Family, and Cultural and Social conditions must play a part but differ from country to country and from individual to individual.
About 9.4 % of all State Pensioners now live beyond the UK.  If all the countries of the World are included there were in May 2012 -about 1,202,620 State Pensioners resident abroad.
These pensioners are mostly subject to decisions of the British Government (if not the resident citizens! of Britain.)
Those in Europe will have a ghastly shock if Britain pulled out of the European Union. All 450,000 of them, including the smaller countries.
Those in the further Commonwealth have long suffered the problems of frozen pensions and probably that is why the numbers in some of these countries is declining.
All should have a democratic voice in the decisions of Parliament which affect them.
To do so they should be aware of the petition given below and sign up!
http://epetitions.direct.gov.uk/petitions/43238