The gap between consumer prices in French Polynesia and mainland France continues to widen, according to new research by the territory's institute of statistics.
Papeete, capital of French Polynesia Photo: RNZI
Prices in French Polynesia are 39 percent higher than metropolitan France in 2016, compared to a 26 percent gap in 2010.
Tobacco and alcohol is 112 percent more expensive.
The institute says a metropolitan who would consume the same food in French Polynesia would have to increase their budget by 80 percent.
It says inflation and isolation alone is not enough to explain the price differential, and it suspects the territory's indirect tax regime may be responsible.
