The Office for National Statistics said the closure of scores of nightclubs in recent years and the shift to free or low cost entry for many of those that remain meant the prices were harder to gather and no longer a useful guide to inflation in the hospitality sector.
Among the other items excluded from the 704 items in the basket of goods used to calculate inflation were CD-Roms and rewritable DVDs, “reflecting the change in the computer market away from physical media and towards downloadable files”.
Additions to the basket included computer software, such as for word processing, antivirus or web design, and downloaded computer games, Nespresso-style coffee pods and cream liqueur (such as Baileys).
Women’s leggings have also been added, in part because women’s clothing is an under-covered area of the basket, the ONS said. In food, microwave rice has also been added, reflecting the longer-term trend towards prepared foods.
(via The Guardian)
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