Gin and jigsaws are shopping staples

GIN is in cycling, nondairy milk, kids’ scooters and cider according to the 2017 ‘inflation basket’.

Devised by the Office for National Statistics (ONS), the basket shows what items people are buying and are used to calculate the rate of inflation.

Each year items are added and removed and help demonstrate changing trends and tastes in society.

The latest items added and dropped suggests changing tastes in both alcohol consumption and how we choose to stay fit and healthy.

The “shopping baskets” of items used in compiling the various measures of consumer price inflation are reviewed each year.

Some items are taken out of the baskets and some are brought in to make sure the measures are up to date and representative of consumer spending patterns.

In 2017, 16 items have been added to the CPIH basket while 11 items have been removed and 8 have been modified.

Gin replaces the more generic spirit based drink in the basket, as the ONS says expenditure on gin has risen and there has been an increase in the number of small distilleries over recent years.

Among the items added this year is nondairy milk, such as soya or almond, to represent the growing “Free From” market.

Apple cider and flavoured ciders have also been added, reflecting growing popularity and diversity, with apple cider sold in pubs replaced with a broader cider to reflect wider availability of pear and other varieties.

As more people take up cycling and sports such as triathlon, cycle helmets and men’s base layer tops have been added to the basket.

For children, swings are out but scooters are in, while cough liquid, jigsaws for adults and half chocolate-coated biscuits are the other new items in the basket.

Council tax and rates bills in Northern Ireland have been added to the basket for the first time.

While they have previously been included in RPI, they are now also in the CPIH measure.

Changes in lifestyle mean mobile phone handsets are out, as we’re increasingly buying smartphones, and fees for stopping a cheque go as cheque usage falls.

Mentholated cigarettes are out, in part because the EU Tobacco Products Directive 2014 will see distinguishable flavours including menthol banned from 2020.

Brake parts and single drainer sinks go as these types of items are already well covered in the basket.