Gin added to shopping basket for ONS figures
GIN is in, as is cycling, non-dairy milk, kids’ scooters and cider – that’s what the latest inflation basket tells us about life in 2017.
The latest items added and dropped from the basket of goods the Office for National Statistics uses to calculate inflation suggests changing tastes in both alcohol consumption and how we choose to stay fit and healthy.
The shopping basket 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.
This year 16 items have been added to the CPIH basket, 11 items have been removed and eight 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 non-dairy milk, such as soya or almond, to represent the growing “free from” market.
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. While they have previously been included in RPI, they are now also in the CPIH measure.
Changes in lifestyle mean mobile phones are out, as we’re increasingly buying smartphones, and fees for stopping a cheque go.
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.
Martin Lane, managing editor of money.co.uk said: “The ONS’s shopping basket paints a picture of the nation’s habits so it’s no surprise gin has been added to it. There has been a huge increase in flavoured gins and trendy tonics hitting the supermarket shelves partly because I believe the tipple is one of the least calorific.
“The nation’s current obsession with exercise and eating right is further demonstrated in the fact bicycle helmets and non-dairy milks have also been added to the basket – more proof we’re choosing healthier lifestyles.”