UK Office for National Statistics maintains the basket of items used to calculate the Consumer Prices Index and Retail Prices Index. The basket is reviewed annually, with items added or removed to reflect market changes and ensure the indices represent current consumer spending patterns. This dataset describes the review process and the rationale for selecting items.
Use Cases
- Model inflation rates based on the basket composition described in the review process.
- Analyze shifts in consumer spending patterns based on annual basket updates.
- Benchmark price changes for specific goods and services included in the CPI/RPI basket.
Strengths
- Annual review process ensures the basket reflects current market conditions.
- Data is designated as National Statistics, indicating official quality assurance.
- License is OGL-UK-3.0, allowing for open use and adaptation.
Limitations
- Column-level documentation is absent; field semantics must be inferred after download.
- Row count is unknown, which may limit suitability assessment.
- Freshness should be verified as the last metadata update is dated 2026-07-08.
Provenance
- Source
- Office for National Statistics
- Collection Method
- Annual review of consumer spending patterns.
- Freshness
- Annual review
- Geography
- United Kingdom