Air fryers and vinyl records added to UK inflation basket

Vinyl records, air fryers and gluten-free bread have been added to the list of products used to measure UK inflation while hand sanitiser and sofa beds have been struck out, reflecting changes in people’s spending habits.

In its annual update to the basket of goods and services used to track price growth, the Office for National Statistics added 16 new items to the list of more than 700 deemed representative of what consumers typically spend their money on, while 15 were removed.

The statistics agency said vinyl records had returned to the basket after more than three decades on the back of a resurgence in their popularity. They dropped off the list in 1992, as CDs took off.

Matt Corder, ONS deputy director for prices, said: “Often the basket reflects the adoption of new technology, but the return of vinyl records shows how cultural revivals can affect our spending.”

Measuring inflation was complicated during the pandemic by big swings in consumer spending from restricted services to goods, but those effects have now broadly faded. Prices rose at an annual rate of 4 per cent in January, but most economists expect inflation to drop below the Bank of England’s 2 per cent target by the spring.

The changes in the basket are also evidence of trends towards healthier living, with rice cakes, pumpkin seeds and air fryers all joining. Gluten-free bread was added to reflect the growing supermarket shelf space devoted to products that do not contain the protein.

The ONS said air fryers were a “popular new product” that consumers were increasingly buying on account of their energy-saving features and health benefits compared with conventional fryers.

Spending on cooking items such as air fryers rose more than 30 per cent between 2021 and 2022, according to the agency.

Edible seeds are a constituent of the basket for the first time. The ONS said their addition was “perhaps due to the health benefits they offer, with some consumers opting for this item as opposed to more traditional snacks”.

“Healthier lifestyle products continue to influence consumer choice reflected by the addition of the air fryer, spray oils and rice cakes as well as sunflower and pumpkin seeds,” said Corder.

At the same time, the influence of the pandemic continued to fade, with hand sanitiser disappearing from the basket “as demand dipped dramatically”, according to the ONS.

Sofa beds fell in popularity and were dropped, as pullout beds became a preferred choice.

Hot rotisserie-cooked whole chicken was also removed from the basket, with supermarkets opting for smaller portions to satisfy the lunchtime food market. The decline in the number of butchers led the ONS to stop tracking loose ham prices.

The changes take effect with February’s inflation data, which will be released on March 20.