No-booze beer and houmous: Healthy habits reshape UK inflation basket

ONS Updates UK Inflation Basket: No-Booze Beer & Houmous Reflect Health Shift

ONS Adds Healthier Choices and Tech Trends to UK Inflation Basket

Introduction of Healthier Products

LONDON, March 16 (Reuters) - Prices of alcohol-free beer and houmous will go into calculations of British inflation as shoppers prioritise healthier habits, the Office for National Statistics said on Monday.

How the Inflation Basket is Calculated

The consumer prices index is based on the cost of more than 750 goods and services, some of which are changed each year, reflecting changing lifestyles as well as shifts in the use of technology.

Impact of Lifestyle Choices

"This year, healthier lifestyle choices influence consumer spending, reflected by goods such as houmous and non-alcoholic beer," Stephen Burgess, ONS deputy director for prices, said.

Other Notable Additions and Removals

New Additions

Other additions to the basket include motor homes, dashboard cameras, pay-TV subscriptions and pet-grooming services.

Items Removed or Changed

Leaving the index this year are sheets of wrapping paper - to be replaced by more popular rolls of wrapping paper - while prices for hotels will be measured in a different way to reduce volatility, the ONS said.

Technological Advances in Data Collection

Supermarket Scanner Data

The statistics agency will also introduce data collection from supermarket scanners for over half of the grocery market. The change means "thousands of manually collected price points will be replaced by millions of prices collected automatically" from supermarket checkouts, the ONS said.

Current Inflation Trends

Recent Inflation Figures

Britain's inflation rate fell to a near one-year low of 3.0% in January but the surge in energy prices caused by the conflict in the Middle East has raised concerns about a fresh increase.

Reporting Credits

(Reporting by Suban AbdullaEditing by William Schomberg)