Each year the Office for National Statistics (ONS) reveals its virtual ‘basket of goods and services,’ which contains over 700 items representative of the things that consumers typically spend their money on.
This year, virtual reality headsets make their way into the basket for the first time. As an emerging technology, ONS has seen growing expenditure on this item – which it also expects to continue.
While every year items are added to the basket, others are removed with many remaining unchanged. New items are introduced to represent areas where consumer spending is significant or growing, while items are removed where expenditure is low or decreasing. This year 23 items were added and 15 removed, out of a total of 752.
This year’s key changes to the basket include:
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- Virtual reality headsets have seen rapidly increasing expenditure in recent years. From around £347mn in 2024, it is expected to reach £520mn by 2029.
- Yoga mats helped accommodate home workouts during the pandemic and its popularity has continued to stretch since.
- Men’s sliders/pool sandals provide a better representation of male footwear in the basket. Sliders are a rapidly growing area of the men’s footwear market.
- Pulled pork reflects consumer desire for convenience food and is more widely available now than the oven ready joint, which it replaces.
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- Local newspaper adverts shows the decrease in demand for printed adverts placed in local papers, as adverts are now usually placed online.
ONS deputy director for prices, Stephen Burgess, said: “The addition of virtual reality headsets for the first time shows our appetite for emerging technology, while the loss of printed newspaper adverts demonstrates a continuing shift towards the online world.
“The desire for convenience amidst our busy lifestyles also plays a part in this year’s basket changes. Consumers are choosing easier options in the kitchen, so oven ready gammon joints make way for the quicker choice of pulled pork.
“Men’s slider sandals step into the basket as a rapidly growing part of the male footwear market, while yoga mats also limber up as a new addition due to their increased popularity since the pandemic.”
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