asked the Taoiseach the average price of a two-pound loaf of bread in 1940, 1950 and 1960 and the percentage increase in the price between 1939 and September, 1960.
Written Answers. - Price of Two-Pound Loaf.
86.
The only retail prices available to the Central Statistics Office are those ascertained, at four quarterly intervals each year, for the computation of the Consumer Price Index numbers and these relate to a 2 lb. loaf of a quality in substantial demand in the areas reported. The annual average price, based on the national average retail prices at the four inquiries, was 5.76 pence in 1940 and 6.17 pence in 1950. The 1960 price (based on the three inquiries already taken) was 14.81 pence.
Between mid-August 1939 and mid-August, 1960 (the nearest available date to September, 1960) the percentage increase in price was 191.8.