[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":-1},["ShallowReactive",2],{"page:what-we-do\u002Fnews-stories\u002Fnews\u002F2009\u002Fwhat-says-the-ikea-billy-bookshelf-index-6-oct-2009":3},{"id":4,"slug":5,"title":6,"short_title":7,"intro_text":7,"meta_description":8,"seo_title":8,"path":9,"content_type":10,"locale":11,"go_live_at":7,"first_published_at":12,"page_created_at":13,"published_at":12,"edit_url":14,"breadcrumbs":15,"seo":28,"body_blocks":36,"call_to_action":42,"categories":49,"labels":50,"owner":7,"authors":51,"related_pages":52,"related_sites":53,"in_subsite":54,"contact_page_url":55,"banner_message":56},5613,"what-says-the-ikea-billy-bookshelf-index-6-oct-2009","What says the Ikea Billy Bookshelf Index? - 6 Oct. 2009",null,"","\u002Fwhat-we-do\u002Fnews-stories\u002Fnews\u002F2009\u002Fwhat-says-the-ikea-billy-bookshelf-index-6-oct-2009","pages.newspage","en","1969-12-30T23:00:00+00:00","2025-12-15T13:42:09.262683+00:00","\u002Fcms\u002Fpages\u002F5613\u002Fedit\u002F",[16,19,22,25,27],{"title":17,"slug":18},"What We Do","what-we-do",{"title":20,"slug":21},"News and Stories","news-stories",{"title":23,"slug":24},"News","news",{"title":26,"slug":26},"2009",{"title":6,"slug":5},{"title":6,"description":8,"image":29,"canonical":30,"robots":31,"og_type":32,"twitter_card":33,"locale":11,"created_at":34,"last_modified_at":35},"https:\u002F\u002Fwageindicator.org\u002Fmedia\u002Fimages\u002FSocial_media_preview_image_-_2025.2e16d0ba.fill-1200x630.png","https:\u002F\u002Fwageindicator.org\u002Fwhat-we-do\u002Fnews-stories\u002Fnews\u002F2009\u002Fwhat-says-the-ikea-billy-bookshelf-index-6-oct-2009\u002F","index, follow","website","summary_large_image","1969-12-31T00:00:00+01:00","2025-12-29T22:00:45.728771+01:00",[37],{"type":38,"data":39},"raw_html_block",{"content":40,"variant":41},"\u003Cdiv class=\"zemanta-img\">\u003Cimg alt=\"IKEA flags at the store in Pittsburgh, Pennsyl...\" height=\"200\" src=\"http:\u002F\u002Fupload.wikimedia.org\u002Fwikipedia\u002Fcommons\u002Fthumb\u002Ff\u002Ff1\u002FIKEA_Flags.jpg\u002F300px-IKEA_Flags.jpg\" width=\"300\"\u002F>\u003Cbr\u002F>\u003Cspan class=\"zemanta-img-attribution\">Image via Wikipedia\u003C\u002Fspan>\u003C\u002Fdiv>\n\u003Cp>\u003Cspan class=\"Apple-style-span\">I\u003C\u002Fspan>n September Ikea published its own purchasing index, based on its Billy Bookshelf, obvious building on the \u003Cspan class=\"Apple-style-span\">\u003Cspan class=\"Apple-style-span\">Big Mac Index\u003C\u002Fspan>\u003C\u002Fspan>, published each year by The Economist. \u003Cspan class=\"Apple-style-span\">\u003Cspan class=\"Apple-style-span\">That has generated quite some publicity and\u003C\u002Fspan>\u003C\u002Fspan> - to be honest - at the WageIndicator we have also been tempted to discuss a similar initiative. \u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But do these indexes says that much about about the purchasing power or the economy of a certain country? Probably not. Because the Big Mac Index has been republished year after year, it is a good tool to see changes over the years. \u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>That might happen also to the Billy Bookshelf Index, but who has been visiting Ikea stores in different continents knows that it says more about the level of competition in a region than about the economy itself. \u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>In most west European countries Ikea offers relatively good-looking low-end furniture. In other countries, like China, they were forced to move into the higher segment, because they could not compete in the lower segments. And they raised their prices. Most certainly, you should not buy your Billy Bookshelf in Kuwait or Israel. Nice gadget, but it does not say that much. \u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp> \u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Fons Tuinstra\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cdiv> \u003C\u002Fdiv>\n\u003Cp>\u003Cspan class=\"Apple-style-span\">\u003Cspan class=\"Apple-style-span\">Currency converted by Bloomberg\u003C\u002Fspan>\u003C\u002Fspan>\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\u003Cspan class=\"Apple-style-span\">========================================================\u003C\u002Fspan>\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cdiv>\n\u003Cpre>Country               Catalogue       Local        Index\r\n                     price (USD)    Currency\r\n========================================================\r\nAverage Price            60.09      60.09  USD     100.0\r\n========================================================\r\nU.A.E.                   47.64     175.00  AED      79.3\r\nU.K.                     49.34      29.90  GBP      82.1\r\nBelgium                  49.91      34.95  EUR      83.1\r\n========================================================\r\nCountry               Catalogue       Local        Index\r\n                     price (USD)    Currency\r\n========================================================\r\nSpain (mainland)         49.98      35.00  EUR      83.2\r\nFrance                   49.98      35.00  EUR      83.2\r\nNetherlands              49.98      35.00  EUR      83.2\r\nPortugal                 49.98      35.00  EUR      83.2\r\nDenmark                  51.60     269.00  DKK      85.9\r\nPoland                   51.89     149.95  PLN      86.4\r\nMalaysia                 52.60     185.00  MYR      87.5\r\nHungary                  52.79    9990.00  HUF      87.9\r\nGermany                  54.26      38.00  EUR      90.3\r\nTaiwan                   54.63    1795.00  TWD      90.9\r\nIceland                  54.86    6950.00  ISK      91.3\r\nSingapore                54.86      79.00  SGD      91.3\r\nSweden                   55.11     395.00  SEK      91.7\r\nCzech Republic           55.48     995.00  CZK      92.3\r\nIreland                  55.69      39.00  EUR      92.7\r\nItaly                    55.69      39.00  EUR      92.7\r\nAustria                  55.69      39.00  EUR      92.7\r\n========================================================\r\nCountry               Catalogue       Local        Index\r\n                     price (USD)    Currency\r\n========================================================\r\nFinland                  55.69      39.00  EUR      92.7\r\nSwitzerland              56.24      59.95  CHF      93.6\r\nRussia                   56.59    1790.00  RUB      94.2\r\nSlovakia                 57.05      39.95  EUR      94.9\r\nU.S.                     59.99      59.99  USA      99.8\r\nNorway                   60.15     365.00  NOK     100.1\r\nJapan                    62.50    5900.00  JPY     104.0\r\nGreece                   64.26      45.00  EUR     106.9\r\nCyprus                   64.26      45.00  EUR     106.9\r\nCanada                   64.33      69.99  CAD     107.1\r\nHong Kong                64.38     499.00  HKD     107.1\r\nChina                    65.72     449.00  CNY     109.4\r\nTurkey                   66.49      99.00  TRY     110.7\r\nRomania                  67.28     199.00  RON     112.0\r\nAustralia (2)            74.58      89.00  AUD     124.1\r\nSaudi Arabia             78.67     295.00  SAR     130.9\r\nAustralia (1)            79.61      95.00  AUD     132.5\r\n========================================================\r\nCountry               Catalogue       Local        Index\r\n                     price (USD)    Currency\r\n========================================================\r\nKuwait                   90.28      26.00  KWD     150.2\r\nIsrael                  103.48     395.00  ILS     172.2\r\n========================================================\u003C\u002Fpre>\r\nRelated articles by Zemanta\r\n\u003Cul class=\"zemanta-article-ul\">\n\u003Cli class=\"zemanta-article-ul-li\">The Billy Instead Of The Big Macs (abcnews.go.com)\u003C\u002Fli>\n\u003Cli class=\"zemanta-article-ul-li\">The Big Mac Index: Globalization At Work [Burgernomics] (consumerist.com)\u003C\u002Fli>\n\u003C\u002Ful>\n\u003Cbr\u002F>\n\u003Cp> \u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003C\u002Fdiv>","light",{"text":43,"link":44},"Contact us",{"title":43,"url":45,"description":43,"rel":46,"type":47,"id":48},"\u002Fabout\u002Fcontact","follow","internal",24590,[],[],[],[],[],false,"\u002Fwork\u002Fliving-wages\u002Fcontact-us","\u003Cp>Welcome to WageIndicator. Same organisation, same information, new look!\u003C\u002Fp>"]