The new ‘shopping basket’ used to calculate inflation in 2022 shows just how much Covid and successive lockdowns have changed our spending habits.
In total, 19 items have been added to the CPIH (Consumer Prices Index including owner-occupiers’ housing costs) basket while 15 items have been removed.
CHANGING TASTES
The shopping basket put together by the ONS (Office for National Statistics) contains over 700 prices for consumer goods and services bought by UK households.
Each year the composition of the basket is tweaked to account for changes in our spending habits.
Changing the basket also allows the ONS to include entirely new products and services which didn’t exist previously.
DOUGHNUTS OUT, CROP TOPS IN
Thanks to the rise of in-home dining, the CPIH basket now includes frozen yorkshire puddings, meat free sausages, canned pulses and dried herbs for the first time.
These changes reflect both the importance of convenience in home cooking and the significant increase in vegetarianism and veganism driven by younger generations.
On the other hand, single doughnuts leave the basket due to the increase in working from home and a decline in eating on-the-go.
The trend toward remote working has also impacted the clothing element of the inflation basket.
Out have gone men’s suits due to ‘the fall in usage hastened by the coronavirus pandemic’ together with the decision by several retailers to withdraw them from sale.
In have come mean’s formal jackets and blazers instead, while in ladies’ fashion in have come crop tops and sports bras reflecting an increased interest in fitness and a resultant increase in spending on sports clothing.
CLIMBING THE WALLS
The explosion in pet ownership during lockdown is marked by the inclusion of pet collars for the first time, while anti-bacterial wipes also make their debut thanks to our new cleaning regimes.
Changes in what we do in our spare time means in come craft and hobby kits as well as climbing sessions.
Out of the basket go reference books such as atlases and dictionaries as ‘all age groups are resorting to electronic maps to plan journeys while dictionary apps are also available’.
