Is the UK the most expensive country?

Question

Do we over here really pay way, way, way more than our international friends pay for things like food, DVDs, etc.

Answer 1

With the pound going down against the Euro you have lost your 'most expensive' status if you had it.

Most of continental western Europe is at least as expensive now, for some things way more expensive.

Living on an island does make some things more expensive, but imports are not much cheaper in the Netherlands, (if any.)

Answer 2

No.  Japan, Switzerland, and Norway are at least as expensive as the UK if not more.  Some neighborhoods of London are among the most expensive places in the world, but that isn't true of the rest of London (which has many districts with relatively cheap rents, food, clothing stores, etc.) or the rest of the UK.

Answer 3

No way american stuff is way better and the food is better

Answer 4

Sandra S: That wasn't actually the question, although I agree that the food must be better, given the size of a lot of Americans.

I've travelled quite a lot and DVDs, CDs etc are more expensive in the UK than anywhere else I've been but bizarrely books are pretty cheap here in comparison. The price of food doesn't vary widely in my experience if you buy local produce. Clothes and accessories are cheaper here than anywhere I've experienced. Cosmetics, about the same. Houses and rent vary. In European Russia, house prices are ridiculous.

I'm talking primarily about other European countries.

Answer 5

Well, Ireland, Switzerland, and all Scandinavian countries are at least as expensive as the UK.

And you should keep in mind that the UK un-wisely has something extremely unfitting for a free-market economy - it's called "minimum wage". If employers have to pay a minimum wage for every job, no matter how easy it is, or how little training you need for it, they have such high costs that they have to ask for high prices for their goods in return.

Our brain-dead unions in Germany are fighting for the introduction of a minimum wage as well. They say: "things are getting more expensive every day, that's why we need a minimum wage." But if they introduce it, everything is going to become much more expensive, and everyone will suffer as a result. But in order to understand that, they would have to use their brains instead of their mouths for a change.

My advice to you: order your CDs and DVDs from the Channel Islands, like everyone else - one reason less to complain.