Hand sanitisers are in and white chocolate bars are out as the basket of goods and services used to calculate inflation undergoes its latest reshuffle.<\/p>\n
The impact of the pandemic on consumer habits is apparent in the announcement from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) which also sees casual clothing and home exercise equipment added.<\/p>\n
Ground coffee is out – replace by coffee sachets – while the staff restaurant sandwich is also removed from the list with the number of work canteens falling.<\/p>\n
Sam Beckett, ONS head of economic statistics, said: “The pandemic has impacted on our behaviour as consumers, and this has been reflected in the 2021 inflation basket of goods.<\/p>\n
“The need for hygiene on the go has seen the addition of hand sanitiser, now a staple item for many of us.<\/p>\n
“Lockdown living has seen demand for home exercise equipment rise, while spending more time within our own four walls has also encouraged us to invest in smart technologies.<\/p>\n
“A more casual approach to clothing, as more of us work from home, has seen the addition of loungewear into the consumer basket.”<\/p>\n
The ONS said 17 items had been added this year with 10 removed and 729 left unchanged.<\/p>\n
It described hand sanitiser, added to the list, as “something many of us are rarely without nowadays” and said there had been increased spending on such products.<\/p>\n
The addition of hand weights for home exercise, with gyms closed during the lockdowns, also reflected “the trend for healthier living”, the ONS said.<\/p>\n
Smartwatches were added for similar reasons, with consumers using them to monitor their health and fitness during home workouts.<\/p>\n
New types of “smart” or WiFi enabled light bulbs have entered the list, apparently thanks to the home improvement trend seen over the past year of lockdowns.<\/p>\n
Casual clothes such as men’s loungewear and women’s sweatshirts have joined the list of items too as people work more from home.<\/p>\n
Hybrid and electric cars have also been added to the list, reflecting the move away from diesel and electric vehicle sales.<\/p>\n
The removal from the list of the white chocolate bar sees it replaced by malted chocolate sweets such as Maltesers, which the ONS said attract higher spending.<\/p>\n
Also left out are Axminster and Wilton type carpets which evidence suggests are mainly used in commercial premises now – rather than for the consumer basket of goods and services used to compile CPI, the main measure of inflation.<\/p>\n