To ask what the rest of (geographic) Europe are doing differently?

[CanIJustAskAnotherStupidQuestion]

I have friends and colleagues in Nordics, Spain, Italy, Germany and they all keep asking what the hell is going on in Britain, with double digit inflation and 80% increases in fuel costs. They don’t seem to be feeling all of this to the same extent.

So why is it happening here, and not so much elsewhere? I know that e.g. France hasn’t been hit with fuel bills for consumers because EDF is nationalised (but presumably that means they will get hit in taxes). But what about elsewhere?

Excellent post.

Inflation in Turkey is a bit different, almost at 80%.

Denmark here. Those at the bottom are really feeling inflation. However the economy is booming and there's a labour shortage so lots of previously unemployed have got jobs.

Also we have very strong unions so employers cannot take the piss like they do in the UK.

Oh my gosh how are they surviving

Just driven through Europe ..France, Germany, Belgium Holland etc and their fuel is as expensive as ours and the cost of eating out is awful. We didn't go high end food wise just where locals go. It was a shock as thought it be cheaper than uk.

Spain has high taxes, I pay a lot more tax than I would in the UK.

I don’t mind though because the services are really good. Cost of living is less because nursery care is subsidized (free from age 2) and this has helped me earn more and be able to pay the tax. It has a knock on effect on gender equality too (paternity leave and maternity leave both 16 weeks for example).

The Spanish government has been quite clever with petrol because you get the government discount at the tills, so you see the astronomical prices at the pump but then feel thankful for the govt when you pay and it’s less (though still higher).

Our supermarket bill has gone up though.

Petrol is sky high in Europe, inflation is high in many countries and those whose populations haven't had energy rises are because the government is picking up the tab - edf is sueing the French government for instance because they are loosing money. The price is affecting everyone

this isn’t true, there’s a website that compares global fuel prices. I have also just driven through Luxembourg Belgium France and Spain so looked it up. The uk price for diesel on Wednesday was 1.84£ and the French 1.84€ so I saved a fair bit waiting until calais.

scandinavia and Greece are the only countries with more expensive petrol than uk (globalpetrolprices.com)

Ps I've just checked the prices (end of last week) of petrol as going away next week and it's more expensive in my countries than the U.K. (paid £1.61 yesterday)

Just out of interest gogohmm how does a nationalised company sue the state? Do they just move the money from one account to another?

I'm from nordics and I feel like one of the main differences are the heating systems. My electric company has increased the prices 58%. However in my electricity bill the difference will be less than £10/month. We don't use gas and we don't have boilers. We mainly use district heating which is not part of our electricity bill.

Food has gone up. Petrol has gone up (is now cokign down). I'm not sure thing in the UK is significantly different than elsewhere in Europe.

Good points here better to look at full picture

@gogohmm where are you getting that info? Because globalpetrolprices.com which is a reliable source has very different data and is updated daily.

I had a vested interest on Wednesday as drove through England, France, Belgium and Luxembourg so planned carefully where to fill up!

Isnt Germany freaking out because they have allowed themselves to be too reliant on Russian gas?

Same as Rewis. Here in Sweden almost all apartments get their heating from district heating schemes. If you rent an apartment, heating will be included in the rent, and rent increases are capped (mine is capped at 2%). It means that tenants in apartments (who are likely to be on lower incomes) are relatively sheltered from energy price increases.

Inflation is currently around 10% in EU countries with some individual countries coming close to 20%.

I thought that too.

www.rac.co.uk/drive/travel/advice/european-fuel-prices-petrol-and-diesel-prices-in-europe/

Of course it’s a factor.
Ordinary working families voting Tory is like turkeys voting for Christmas.
Tories have been disastrous for this Country.

Brexit was a complete disaster, sold on complete lies to those “ Wanting to take back control of our borders” and to give millions to NHS

A friend moved to France a couple of years ago, and I envy him.
So much better off there.

Interesting that heating oil is cheaper in the UK. That's what my boiler runs on!

For those absolutely convinced the EU is doing so much better, here is this from BBC
Europe Faces Awful Winters

Germany is already in recession.

Italy is about to elect a far-right leader (as in, actually far right)

And to those lolsing about France’s crime wave, France has the highest rate of femcide in Europe. Many of its cities are completely stretched with crime and it has the second highest crime rate in Europe after Belarus Crime Rate Across Europe Data - as in criminal Russian client-state Belarus.

There is a confused section of the internet that thinks Europe or the EU is always doing better. They aren’t.

Gas prices are set globally and there is not enough gas to go around.

Currently on holiday in Spain
food is very reasonable
fuel fairly priced
shops well stocked
no rip off culture with pricing when you visit places
currently sipping a cafe con leche for a quid, glass of wine right on the beach 2 quid
i have told my kids who are all or nearly adults to get out of the uk as soon as they are able
And we are in a quieter part of a big city
and still prices are ok

Am under no illusion that this is utopia
but anything has to be better than the uk shitshow which is going to get a whole heap worse

Taking the situation seriously and working on getting out of it, yes. 'Freaking out', no, by and large.

Do you think us constantly voting Tory could possibly be a factor?

This

i have told my kids who are all or nearly adults to get out of the uk as soon as they are able

I can’t imagine saying this to dc, but where are they planning to go?