VR headphones and porridge pork joined the UK inflation basket

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The virtual reality and pork backed previously joined the list of products used to measure inflation in the UK while dropping newspapers, reflecting the shift in spending habits towards online trade options.

In the annual update of the commodity basket and services that follow the price growth, the National Statistical Office added 23 new elements to a list of more than 700 representing what consumers usually spend on money, and removing 15.

UK Statistics Agency said on Tuesday that VR headphones have risen in recent years. In contrast, newspapers ads are less common as companies turn to social media.

Stephen Burgis, deputy price manager in global investment institutions, said that adding VR headphones to the inflation basket referred to “the appetite of the British emerging technology, while the loss of printed newspapers ads indicates a continuous shift towards the Internet world.”

He added: “The desire to rest amid our crowded lifestyles plays a role in this year’s basket change,” as the pork drawn has already replaced the joints of the pork ready for the oven as consumers resort to products that take less time to prepare. The pasta and mango have joined the use of use to the new basket.

Separately, the agency changed how to track the hotel’s accommodations overnight. Nowadays, inflation in the hotel depends on the next night prices, making it one of the most volatile ingredients in the entire basket.

But in a new basket, hotel costs will also reflect prices in advance, reducing the impact of demand for short -term demand.

The average cost of accommodation in the hotel increased for one night at an annual rate of 20 percent in June 2024, but it decreased to only 4 percent in the following month, which raised questions about the inflation effect of the American pop star. Taylor Swift tour in ages.

The annual consumer price inflation has increased More than expected to 3 percent In January, an increase of 1.7 percent in September last year, but much less than the highest level in 41 years reached 11.1 percent in October 2022.

Increased price growth in 2022 reflected the significant increase in energy and food prices after Russia’s extensive invasion of Ukraine in February of that year.

The Bank of England expects inflation to rise to 3.7 percent by mid 2025, before it turned about 2 percent targeted later in the year.

ONS also added exercise to the basket, noting that the use of the product “has increased significantly” since the epidemic, when more people started working at home.

Other additions include male slippage, which have become a fast -growing space in the shoe market.

But meals were dropped in the cafera in the store, including in stores, because “the spread of these ports has decreased with many stores closing.”

The basketball changes will get inflation data in February, which will be published by ONS on March 26.