Nightclub fees, coffee pods and microwave rice: what the nation’s shopping basket can tell us

The ONS takes puts some items in and takes some out of the basket every year to better reflect the buying habits of the British public

Nightclub fees have come out the basket because the ONS said there simply aren’t enough of them charging any more (PYMCA/UIG via Getty Images)

Nightclub fees, coffee pods and microwave rice are some of the items to switch places in nation’s fictional shopping basket, which is used by the Office for National Statistics to calculate consumer price inflation.

The ONS takes puts some items in and takes some out of the basket every year to better reflect the buying habits of the British public.

Some, like coffee pods, have been added to the basket because of consumer trends, like the preference for pods that taste like real coffee.

Others, like the large chocolate bar added this year despite the fact that there is already a small chocolate bar in the basket, are put in to address the balance of goods to make sure that it reflects what people buy.

Over 700 goods and services go in the basket to try and accurately reflect household spending. The prices of each item are then tracked over time to measure inflation, or the rate at which prices are rising or falling.

This year we can learn that:

1. Free nightclubs are on the rise. Nightclub fees have come out the basket because the ONS said there simply aren’t enough of them charging any more.

“With the number of nightclubs charging entry declining, we can no longer justify keeping these fees in the basket,” Phil Gooding, CPI statistician, said.

The number of nightclubs in the UK has declined from 3,144 to 1,733 in a decade, according to the Association of Licensed Multiple Retailers (ALMR). Their decline coincides with later licensing laws at pubs.

Infographic by Office for National Statistics (ONS)

2. People are making coffee at home rather than buying it out, thanks to the popularity of coffee pods, which make the list for the first time.

Coffee pod sales broke the £100 million barrier in 2015 as customers looked to get their coffee fix at home, rather than paying extra for it at a café.

In contrast, sales of instand coffee were down 10 per cent in 2015, according to The Grocer.

3. CDs and rewritable DVDs are a thing of the past. They’re gone from the basket given that Britons increasingly download music rather than burn it, the ONS said.

Computer game downloads have been switched in, as online stores such as Steam become the main way that PC Games are sold.

Physical discs are still the main format used for consoles, however.

The Bank of England's Monetary Policy Committee sets policy to try and meet the Government's target for inflation. But the current 0.3 per cent rate lags far behind the 2 per cent target set.