So I guess another attempt at fair comparisons (to take out potential for "lost-leader" practice in the UK) would be to find prices for items which are literally the same brand. (Though that has limits as I would have thought local produce should be cheaper.)
heinz beans 200g (stupidly small tin, but the larger pack has unspecified quantity on smart) 58c vs 48p - malta 15% more expensive.
marmite 250g €3.41 vs £2.48 - malta 31% more expensive.
(Just saw gozomark 1st response: clover butter 500g € 1.77 vs £1.56 - malta 8% more expensive).
Personally I go for value for money and am not a stickler for brands mostly. So that means I would buy local produce or generics in preference. Its a bit tricky to fully evaluate that.
Not trying to talk down Malta - just trying to approach it scientifically and looking for ammunition to convince the wife of the economics of each financial component of planned move in 2009.
About gozomark second post:
Yes the exchange rate has moved a lot recently, and I rebalanced some investments out of USD and GBP into EUR partly in anticipation of moving to malta in 2009, did the forex transfer about 6 weeks or so ago and since then the euros have increased in value relative to the GBP by 15% - so to me that makes clover cheaper in malta - sort of
I definitely do appreciate the tax advantages.
About rent I saw also claimed that the rental return is 2.5% - 3.5% and I believe it is more like 5 or 6% in the UK, making rents cheaper in malta. ie you could rent a house of approx twice the purchase value for the same rental cost in Malta vs UK.
About labour intensive things by feeling on this is mixed - meaning I am not sure I directly consume many labour intensive things.
I do get the car fixed by a local garage and they charge £20/hour - but the mechanic is excellent, trustworthy, reliable and doesnt try to cheat you on anything eg he did a major job in 1/2 the manufacturer quoted workshop hours. In comparison the main car manufacturer approved dealers are £45 and £60/hour (plus vat! at 15% now I guess). I saw some post on this site saying car repair is cheaper in Malta - but for comparison to £20/hour you would need to have the "excellent, trustworthy, reliable and doesnt try to cheat you on anything" and reliable meaning gets done when they say it will get done also (modulo genuine unforseen issues).
I have 4 school age children and the private school cost in Malta that I found fees listed for so far is a fraction of UK and presumably that it is mostly labour cost Thats a big plus.
The other thing and I'll put this in the other forum is the ~100% car registration tax in malta - so have been trying to read up on if/when this is due to be improved.
Thanks for the speedy comments.
btw another way to compare is the PPP statistics (Purchasing Power Statistics) according to my calculations from 2007 PPP figures malta was then 50% cheaper than the UK. PPP is based on a basket of 150 - 200 products adjusted for quantity consumed in the country. Meaning eg if people eat more say bread and less meat in one country than the other that would be somehow included. So to benefit from that 50% PPP it means you have to consume goods in the same proportion as the average resident of the country. PPP covers everything - housing, food, clothes, cars etc.
But since 2007 the GBPEUR has move from around 1.40 to 1.05 (exactly 33% reduction in strength of GBP vs EUR) making Malta now perhaps just 12.5% cheaper. But there are other variables - I didnt find 2008 PPP figures not released yet and it depends on perhaps change of spending habits in both countries due to economic downturn, relative rate of inflation etc.
If you look at the third graph on
http://fx.sauder.ubc.ca/PPP.html
which shows currency natural exchange rate vs current exchange rate based on PPP - you can see that GBP could be considered 20% undervalued at present. Meaning longer term perhaps you would expect things to return more to GBPEUR of 1.25 range.
-Doc