The Central Statistics Office's half yearly price comparsion survey shows that of out of 73 items included, average prices were higher in Dublin for 55%. The survey found that 40 out of the 73 items were more expensive in Dublin, with 33 cheaper.
The CSO says that on average, prices were 3.1% higher in Dublin than the rest of the country. This compared to 3.6% in November 2004 and 3.2% in May 2005.
Fish, fruit and vegetable prices were generally higher in Dublin, while meat prices were lower for more than half of the 73 items covered. The CSO says that in May, only four meat items had lower prices in Dublin, but in November ten of the 18 meat items were showing cheaper prices in Dublin.
For the remaining food and non-alcoholic beverage products - including milk, cheese, butter, eggs, bread, flour, sugar, tea, spaghetti, preserves and orange juice - 14 showed lower average prices in Dublin. The three exceptions to this were orange juice, standard eggs and large eggs.
The survey shows that for take home drink, average prices were generally comparable with 3% or less difference between Dublin and outside Dublin for everything expect cider (5.3% lower in Dublin) and six pack stout (3.4% higher in Dublin).
However, for alcohol consumed in pubs, average prices were 5% more expensive in Dublin compared with the rest of the country. The greatest difference was for a half-pint of lager where average prices in Dublin were 12.3% higher.
Average unleaded petrol prices were 1.6% lower in Dublin than the rest of the country, while average diesel prices were 1.1% lower.
The cost of going to the cinema in Dublin was 20.9% higher than outside the city, while a trip to the hairdressers was also 13.4% higher.
