E-cigarettes, craft beer and Spotify enter UK inflation basket
Britain's inflation rate fell to 0.3% in January, its lowest level since the consumer price index was launched in 1989, hit mostly by plunging global oil prices.
The price of electronic cigarettes, craft beer and subscriptions to music streaming services such as Spotify will go into calculations of British inflation for the first time, the country's statistical agency said on Tuesday.
Britain's consumer prices index is based on the cost of more than 700 goods and services, a handful of which are changed each year as shoppers' tastes change.
"With the decrease in the popularity of traditional media, music streaming services -- such as Spotify -- are being included for the first time, as are online console computer games subscriptions," the ONS said.
Leaving the index this year are yoghurt drinks, fees at foreign exchange bureaux, and stand-alone satellite navigation systems for cars, as drivers either use navigation software on their mobile phones or buy cars with navigation built in.
Other new goods include melons, sweet potatoes, mobile phone chargers and powdered protein drinks for body-builders, intended to capture a broader growth in purchases of sport-related food supplements.
Prices for fresh pizzas now replace frozen pizzas, and coloured paint replaces white paint as trends in interior decoration change.
Britain's inflation rate fell to 0.3% in January, its lowest level since the consumer price index was launched in 1989, hit mostly by plunging global oil prices.