...that this doesn't show who buys the most gadgets, rather it shows a combination of who buys the most and where its more expensive. USA probably spend more money by buying a lot of gadgets rather than by paying more for gadgets. While in the UK you probably only need to buy half the amount of gadgets to spend the same amount of money as in the US.

I'd like to see tables showing both these factors - cost and amount of gadgets - shown separately.

Paris coz; exactly what type of gadgets are included in this survey?

...without populations taken into account...he types on his new all singing all dancing iphone-alike gadget(omnia i900), which wouldn't even count...

I'ts all on the never-never and that is why we are leading the recession too.

Paris, because I never blow my load on gadgets

What are the per capita figures?

Of course we spent more than anyone else - everything costs more here!

The gov should also be celebrating £34bn on these, as that's probably worth at least £10-15bn in tax revenue (depending on the fags/booze split). Bastards.

<-the one with a pack of Marlboros and a bottle of Jack.

...considering the cost of the bleedin' stuff. Drop the UK prices to US price levels and our spending would nearly halve.

Mines the one with the PS3 in the pocket

How much is spent state by state in the US.

Because if you average it out amoung all 50 states, its just over 3bn each.. the cheap Alan B*Stard's. *lol*

j/k - sorry most American seem to like boasting how big they are.. how each one of their states is about the size of a european country etc, so I often like whinding them up with dumb stuff like this. ;)

*\. Mines the one with the American lock on the wallet coz I aint spending anythign either :p

USA: 162 USDbn / pop. 303.8 = 0.53 USD/person

UK: 44.3 USDbn / pop. 60.9m = 0.73 USD/person

Source: CIA World Factbook

So, we can take one of two things from this. Either Brits spend more, per capita*, than Americans... or Brits pay 25% more for electronics. You choose.

* yes I know that these are bad statistics, because the population figures include the young, the very old, and other marginal groups who aren't big technology spenders. But we all KNOW that we get roylly fucked for technology prices in the UK, so stick with the spirit of the thing, okay?

Has anyone got the time to work these totals out per capita? Would the ranking be any different, or would we then be seen to spoil ourselves even more than the Yanks?

Oh, I'll do it. USA 300M retards, UK 60M pompous limeys = USA $540 and UK $738. Oh, we're the biggest money-wasters then. I think I'll put that second UMPC on hold...

The survey says the UK spent more on gadgets than any other country except for the US. This doesn't meant they bought more gadgets, just that they paid more for them. The UK is a rip-off for tech goods. On units sold I think we both know Japan and maybe China would come before the UK.

...not that I don't like paying less for my goods but to tell you the truth, we aren't the most ripped off in Europe. I travel to Spain quite a lot (other half is Spanish) and there they don't really have *national* electrical chains. That might seem like more competition but what actually happens is that they don't have the buying power, or don't stock what you want (have to order it), so they have little incentive to discount.

Couple to this that the Spanish earn less yet pay EXACTLY the same RRP as the UK (in Euros) and Spanish electronics are pretty expensive. Thank the lord for sites like Ebuyer, Dabs and Play etc. ;-)

That's my 2p.

Some un-named Scandinavian country (Sweden?) spends more than $1000 per head, so they are the winners on per-capita spending.

So, if we are being ripped off, they are being royally ripped off.