“Twilight” Books & iPads Added To UK’s New Inflation Benchmark Index
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The Office for National Statistics (ONS), UK’s official statistics agency, have included the popular “Twilight” teenage fiction book series, along with the Apple iPad, to its baskets of goods used to calculate the rate of inflation in the country.
The Office for National Statistics (ONS), UK’s official statistics agency, have included the popular “Twilight” teenage fiction book series, along with the Apple iPad, to its baskets of goods used to calculate the rate of inflation in the country.
According to the latest ONS inflation benchmark announced on Wednesday, the new entrants to the index were chosen specifically to represent the changes in UK consumer habits – with teenage fiction books and tablet computers seen to be more relevant than outdated technology such as glass casserole dishes and photographic film.
Notably, while fiction books had already been covered in the ONS inflation basket, the growing popularity of the teenage fiction sub-genre prompted the statistics agency to add books such as “Twilight” and “Hunger Games” into the basket on their own.
[quote]”Fiction was previously covered by children’s and adult books, but with the growing popularity of many titles aimed specifically at teenagers, this new item has been added to the basket,” said the ONS in a statement cited by the BBC.[/quote]“Tablets (such as the iPad) have (also) been added as they represent a significant and growing market.”
According to the Guardian, The ONS samples around 700 items each month in order to track their inflationary changes. These goods are determined once a year by the agency, and are collected in around 150 areas throughout the country, with 180,000 separate price quotations used to compile the indices.
The prices are then weighted according to their level of importance, with transportation and food prices given more weight in the index.
The ONS then calculates inflation through two methods: Consumer Price Inflation (CPI) and Retail Price Inflation (RPI).
Related: The Economy of the UK
Related: UK Economic Forecast
Related: United Kingdom Economic Statistics and Indicators
“A convenient way of thinking about both the CPI and RPI is to imagine a ‘shopping basket’ containing those goods and services on which people typically spend their money. As the prices of the various items in the basket change over time, so does the total cost of the basket. Movements in the CPI and RPI represent the changing cost of this representative shopping basket,” explained the ONS.
In January, the CPI measure of inflation fell to 3.6 percent, while the RPI dropped to 3.9 percent. Last year’s CPI changes, for instance, featured the addition of mobile smartphones and phone apps, as well as dating agency fees.
