Laura Suter, head of personal finance at AJ Bell, comments on the latest inflation basket additions and removals:
“Once a year we get a unique insight into how the UK’s tastes and spending habits have changed, as things are tossed out of the inflation basket and new items added. This year Ring doorbells and vegan margarine are in, and alcopops and digital cameras are out.
“The example basket of goods is updated each year by the Office for National Statistics to make sure it accurately represents what we’re all spending our money on each month. By tracking sales of different items, as well as how available they are in supermarkets, the ONS can see what’s popular and what’s fallen out of favour.
“This year the big additions are video doorbells and home security, with more people installing cameras around their house and doorbells so they can track deliveries while they are out. Another addition is electric bikes, which have become more popular.
“The products being added to the food basket give an idea of how tastes have changed, with wraps and tortillas being added, as well as more dairy-free spreads. Frozen berries have been added for the first time, as the nation has turned to making smoothies at home, and so have individual apples, as more people buy them on their own, rather than in a big bag.
“Conversely apple crumbles have clearly fallen out of favour, as cooking apples are being sold in fewer places and so have been axed from the inflation basket. And perhaps the strangest removal is a home-killed shoulder of lamb, as fewer people are eating it and so it’s difficult to gather prices.
“More people are moving away from Royal Mail and towards other delivery services, as the data used to track the cost of posting a parcel or letter has been changed to reflect a wider range of suppliers, rather than just the price at the Post Office.
“In a flash-back to the noughties, both DVDs and alcopops have been removed from the basket. Non-chart CDs and non-film DVDs bought in a shop have both been removed, although chart CDs and film DVDs remain steadfastly in the basket. Alcopops bought while eating out in a restaurant and café are out of the basket, with people now preferring a different tipple with their meals.
“Vending machines are dwindling in popularity, so a can or bottle of drink bought in one has been ditched from the basket. And the nation has been cutting back on its smoking habits, meaning one of the price points for cigarettes has been removed from the basket.
“These new items will be used to calculate the next batch of inflation figures coming out later this month. Regardless of how our preferences have changed, one thing is for sure, prices are still rising and people are still finding everything more expensive.”
