Living Conditions, Education and Health

The statistics pertaining to living standards all indicate progress since 1949. Prices were stabilised. Purchasing power rose. The turnover of retail and urban-rural trade increased year by year. Real wages are higher and hours of work lower, and unemployment has declined. Between 1950 and 1952 urban and rural consumption increased at an annual rate of around 20 per cent. In 1954 rural purchasing power was more than double that in 1950. ¹