London, United Kingdom. Prices of alcohol-free beer and houmous will be included in British inflation calculations as shoppers prioritise healthier habits, according to the Office for National Statistics.
Changes to the CPI basket
The consumer prices index is based on the cost of more than 750 goods and services, some of which are changed each year to reflect changing lifestyles as well as shifts in the use of technology.
“This year, healthier lifestyle choices influence consumer spending, reflected by goods such as houmous and non-alcoholic beer,” Stephen Burgess, ONS deputy director for prices, said.
Other additions to the basket include motor homes, dashboard cameras, pay-TV subscriptions and pet-grooming services.
Items removed and methodology updates
Leaving the index this year are sheets of wrapping paper, to be replaced by more popular rolls of wrapping paper. The ONS said prices for hotels will be measured in a different way to reduce volatility.
Expanded use of supermarket scanner data
The statistics agency will also introduce data collection from supermarket scanners for over half of the grocery market. The ONS said the change means “thousands of manually collected price points will be replaced by millions of prices collected automatically” from supermarket checkouts.
Inflation backdrop
Britain’s inflation rate fell to a near one-year low of 3.0 per cent in January, but the surge in energy prices caused by the conflict in the Middle East has raised concerns about a fresh increase.
How do you expect the updated inflation basket to affect perceptions of price changes in everyday shopping?
