Laura Suter, personal finance analyst at investment platform AJ Bell, comments on the changes to the inflation basket:
“Each year the Office for National Statistics decides which products are out of favour, and so are no longer representative of our buying habits, and which have shot up in popularity and should be included on the list when it calculates inflation.
“The items cherry picked for inclusion in the Government’s inflation basket are a great way of seeing how trends change over the years. This year is no different, with 2020 being the year of gluten-free food, gin tins and reusable cups.
“The nations’ love of a pre-made cocktail in a can has made it onto the list for the first time, while the gin trend shows no sign of slowing, with an extra entry for gin added to the basket to reflect how much we all love the tipple and the variety of options out there.
“The rise in beauty trends is reflected in the inclusion of fake tan. The continuing move online is highlighted too, with DVD and Blu-ray players no longer getting separate entries on the list and now being combined, while the MP4 player has been removed in favour of a more generic portable music player to show that more people are streaming their music. How the entry for computer games is calculated has also changed, to show that more people are buying games online rather than going in store to buy a physical copy.
“The nation’s eating habits show that we’re moving towards healthier and gluten-free food, with gluten-free cereal being included for the first time to represent this trend, adding to the existing non-dairy milk and ‘Free From’ items on the list. The burger craze in the UK is also clearly slowing, as separate entries for takeaway burgers and eat-in burgers have been merged, while vegetable crisps have been added to the list to reflect healthier choices we’re making. What’s more Mr Kipling style individual fruit pies have been ditched, and instead crumpets have been added to the list.”
