Made in Shoreditch: The UK’s inflation basket gets a revamp
The government’s economic statisticians have fallen for the influence of the kind of people who frequent the trendy parts of Shoreditch. Craft beers, e-cigarettes and Spotify have all been added to the basket of goods used by the Office for National Statistics (ONS) to calculate inflation.
“Off-sales of ‘craft’ beer have been introduced as these speciality and micro-brewery products are seeing an increase in both expenditure and the shelf space devoted to them,” the ONS said.
Those protein shakes used by gym buffs have also been thrown in, as have sweet potatoes.
Liver has made a remarkable comeback after being relegated from the basket in 1999.
Changing trends have led to some dropouts, too. SatNavs have now been removed, as many drivers now opt to use their smart phone instead. Yoghurt drinks and foreign exchange commissions have also been left on the shelf.
The price of the basket – the consumer price index (CPI) – is targeted by the Bank of England at two per cent growth a year.
There are currently 703 items that make up the CPI basket of goods and services, with the ONS using thousands of prices from both shops and online to calculate the figure.