‘Bottle of lager in a nightclub’ drops out of consumers’ basket of goods
The ‘bottle of lager in a nightclub’ follows nightclub admissions (dropped in 2016) out of 2018’s basket, which is compiled using information from the three main consumer inflation indexes.
New food items added to the 2018 list included raspberries, quiche and prepared mashed potato, some 30 years after dried mashed potato left.
However, pork pies and Edam cheese are out. While pork pies are being removed as an individual item, the wider product of a ‘meat-based snack’, which included pork pies as well as other examples such as sausage rolls, mini Cornish pasties and Scotch eggs, remain on the list.
Action cameras
Outside of the food industry, women’s exercise leggings and action cameras such as GoPros have been added to the basket of good and services used to calculate inflation.
With more and more soft play areas opening across the UK, adult-supervised soft play sessions have been introduced to the basket for the first time. Children’s sit and ride toys replace the child's tricycle, whose coverage has been falling reflecting its availability in shops.
The rise of the smartphone means digital camcorders no longer feature in the basket, while digital media players such as Chromecast and Apple TV have replaced digital TV recorders and receivers such as Freeview boxes. The addition of action cameras this year reflects the growing popularity of these devices.
Other items added to the 2018 basket include body moisturising lotion and high chairs. Items removed include peaches and nectarines, leg waxing and ATM charges.
Modern spending habits
Senior statistician Philip Gooding said: “Every year we add new items to the basket to ensure that it reflects modern spending habits.
“We also update the weighting each item has to ensure the overall inflation numbers reflect shoppers’ experiences on inflation.
“However, while we add and remove a number of items each year, the overall change is actually quite small. This year we changed 36 items out of a total basket of 714.”
