WHAT IT COSTS THE WORLD TO LIVE.

Auckland Star, Volume LIV, Issue 49, 27 February 1923, Page 6

WHAT IT COSTS THE WORLD TO LIVE.

INTERNATIONAL LABOUR OFFICE FIGTTRES. A GENERAL DECLINE. The most noticeable feature in recent ' figures ot cost of living in the preat rnajonty of countries i 9 the general ten. I dency toward stabilisation, according to ' a recent bulletin of the International! Labour Office of the League of Nations. The gradual and continued fall in the ' price levei which was a characteristic phenomenon of the year 1021 continued in 10£2 in many countries. This fall then gave place to a temporary advance due in many cases to seasonal influences. . But the latest figures received by the ! International Labour Office show" that this increase lias generally ceased, and slight decreases are now shown in most countries. There are some countries, however, to which the above general statements do not apply. For the first time since the war. Austria records in October a drop ! in the cost of living, the index figure for! the middle of Otoher amounting to 8 per cent less than 'he figure for the middle; of September. The index number of the i cost of living in Poland for October ! was 125404, which i> an increase of' about 20 per cent over the September' level, and of about 40 per cent over the j Angus' level. The official index figure ' of cost of living in Germany in October represents an increase of tf.j.,l per cent ! over the September level. The most noticeable rise since August lias taken place in the cost of clothing, which has more than trebled in tw 0 months. In (>.echo Slovakia a substantial fall in prices continues. During three months a decrease of :(0 per cent has been registered. So far as wholesale prices are concerned, very little change has been noted' in extra-Kuropean countries. Tn European countries, the fall has continued in •he United Kingdom. Norway, Sweden and Holland. On the other band in certain European countries a considerable rise has taken place. These countries arc France, Ttaly. Germany. Poland, and to a less extent Switzerland. In France and Italy the level of prices is distinctly

higher than six months azo. in rrance, apart from a slight reaction in -September, prices have s'.eadily risen since February of last year, and in Italy since May. In Switzerland prices, which hnve remained fairly stable during the summer months, show a sharp upward trend in October, the index number rising from 163 to 169.