Pork pies scrapped from inflation basket in annual shake-up

The humble pork pie has been ditched from Britain’s inflation basket and women’s exercise leggings have been added to the mix, underscoring the nation’s appetite for keeping fit.

The Office for National Statistics (ONS) said action cameras – such as GoPros – and children’s soft play areas have also been included in the goods and services basket in a sign that the population is spending more on keeping active.

However, digital camcorders have been stripped out due to the rise of smartphones, while the digital revolution has also caused TV receivers to be replaced by digital media players made by Apple, Google and Amazon.

“We also update the weight each item has to ensure the overall inflation numbers reflect shoppers’ experiences of inflation.

“However, while we add and remove a number of items each year, the overall change is actually quite small. This year we changed 36 items out of a total basket of 714.”

Raspberries, quiche, ready-made mashed potato, body lotion and high chairs have also made their way into the basket, which is used to calculate the cost of living.

However, pork pies have been removed as an individual item and will now be covered as a “meat-based snack” alongside sausage rolls and scotch eggs.

Edam cheese, peaches and nectarines, leg waxing and ATM charges have been taken out of the basket.

Nightclub admissions and bottles of lager bought in nightclubs have also been given the boot to reflect the sharp fall in the number of nightclub venues across the country.

The list is used to calculate the Consumer Prices Index including owner occupiers’ housing costs (CPIH), the ONS preferred measure of inflation.

The Consumer Prices Index (CPI) rate of inflation was 3% in January, unchanged from December, while CPIH held steady in January at 2.7%.