UK the most expensive for night at the flicks

13 November 2007

An international price comparison study has highlighted the UK as the World’s most expensive country for a cinema ticket. Brits also pay top whack for condoms, cigarettes and travel.

The annual study by www.PriceRunner.co.uk, the price comparison service, revealed that the average price of a cinema ticket in the UK is a staggering £8.90, compared to Hungary where a night at the flicks is just £3.14, which is 65% cheaper. Across the 29 cities included in the study, London is the second most expensive city overall with Brits paying over the odds for a vast array of consumer goods, including mobile handsets and other gadgets; with devices like the Microsoft Xbox costing a whopping £269.66 in the UK, compared to just £161.73 in Tokyo and £178.63 in New York.

Condoms getting cheaper

Although the UK is still one of the most expensive places to buy condoms, prices have been steadily falling. In 2003, 12 Durex condoms would have set you back £9.31, whereas now they cost just £7.57. Shanghai has the best global price on condoms with 12 costing only £2.27. Shanghai is also cheapest for cigarettes with 20 Marlboro Lights costing a measly £0.92.

The global PriceRunner study shows that the price of cigarettes has steadily risen in the UK, with a packet of 20 Marlboro Lights costing £4.95 in 2003 compared with £5.33 today.

Mattias Berg, UK Managing Director, PriceRunner commented "Not only is London the most expensive place in the World to watch a film, but Brits have to pay more than anyone other country on a number of key consumer goods. It’s good to see that condoms and other items are coming down in price, but Brits still get a raw deal on entertainment items such as cinema tickets."

Christmas gadget guide – go east!

With Christmas just a few weeks away now Tokyo is the place to go for electrical bargains, with gadgets like Apple iPods, mobile phones and games consoles available at rock bottom prices. You can pick up a Nintendo Wii for just £107.22 in comparison to £192.99 here in the UK. However, if gadgets are your game, you would be well advised to steer clear of Norway where a Nokia N95 will set you back a wallet-busting £542, which makes Tokyo’s price of £258 look even better. Houston is great for DVD players with a top-of-the-range recordable LG available for £434. While you’re there why not get a new TV too, with a 32 inch flatscreen Panasonic Viera on sale for £420, well under half the price in Norway (£1115).

Scandinavia – it’s cold and expensive

Those in the Nordic countries have it rough, not only do temperatures reach as low as -15 °C they also have the highest prices in the world for Milk, vodka, Bic Macs, cigarettes, consumer electronics, travel and even toys. Of the 26 items included in the study Norway was most expensive for 11 of them.

About The Study

Below is the international ranking list for 2007 based on the common products. England is the second most expensive country compared to the international average.

Full product list and key findings

The store prices were collected by PriceRunner employees across 29 cities. The cities included:

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For further information please contact:

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About the study

Where possible, three prices were collected for each product and the mean average was used as the country’s price for the product. No less than two prices per product per country have been used, with the exception of those products where prices are standardized, e.g. alcohol in Sweden or McDonalds. Prices, in most cases were collected from multiple-outlet retailer stores, to ensure that they are as closely representative of each country’s typical prices as possible.

The prices were collected October 1-12, 2007 and exchanges rates were from Bank of England, http://www.bankofengland.co.uk/ during Oct. 8-12, 2007.

About PriceRunner

www.PriceRunner.co.uk, a division of ValueClick, Inc. (Nasdaq: VCLK), is the UK's most comprehensive and independent price comparison company. Online prices are updated on a daily basis by a specialist team that develops and manages cutting edge technology which hunts down the cheapest online prices available. PriceRunner is unique in that, unlike other price comparison sites, a dedicated team of PriceRunners also checks prices in high street stores. PriceRunner always lists the cheapest price first and is completely independent in that it lists all retailers, regardless whether they pay or not, to provide consumers with a complete overview of the market.

About ValueClick:

ValueClick, Inc. (Nasdaq:VCLK) is a leading global provider of digital marketing solutions, enabling advertisers, agencies and publishers to reach consumers through all major online marketing channels.

This release contains forward-looking statements that involve risks and uncertainties, including, but not limited to, ValueClick’s ability to successfully integrate its recently completed Fastclick and Webclients mergers, trends in online advertising spending and estimates of future online performance-based advertising. Actual results may differ materially from the results predicted, and reported results should not be considered an indication of future performance. Important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those expressed or implied in the forward-looking statements are detailed under “Risk Factors” and elsewhere in filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission made from time to time by ValueClick, including: its Annual Report on Form 10-K filed on March 31, 2006 and amendment to its Annual Report on Form 10-K/A filed on April 21, 2006; its current report on Form 8-K filed on February 27, 2006; recent quarterly reports on Form 10-Q and Form 10-Q/A, other current reports on Form 8-K; its amended registration statement on Form S-4, filed on September 27, 2005; and its final prospectus on Form 424B3 filed on September 28, 2005. Other factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those expressed or implied in the forward-looking statements include, but are not limited to, the risk that market demand for online advertising, and performance-based online advertising in particular, will not grow as rapidly as predicted. ValueClick undertakes no obligation to release publicly any revisions to any forward-looking statements to reflect events or circumstances after the date hereof or to reflect the occurrence of unanticipated events.