According to the September report of the Government Office of Statistics in Jerusalem, says Great Britain and the Near East, it is now possible to present a more accurate picture of price movements in Palestine than could be done some years ago.
An official household budget inquiry conducted in Palestine in 1922 showed that food accounted for 46.6 per cent of the total family expenditure; and investigation conducted by the Jewish Agency’s Statistics Department in 1939-40 showed that expenditure on food was 50.6 per cent of the total family expenditure of 200 urban families, and the corresponding average for 37 rural families was 53.3 per cent.
Retail prices of food moved upwards on the outbreak of war. Based on an index number of 100 for 1937, the percentage changes varied from 85.8 in August to 109.1 in December, and then from 112.3 in January, 1940, to 106.1 in June, 1940, for Arab families.
The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.
