Non-alcoholic beer has been added to the UK’s official inflation basket, a move that underlines changing consumer habits and the increasing shift towards healthier lifestyles.
The Office for National Statistics (ONS) confirmed the product will add more than 760 goods and services to calculate key measures of inflation, including the Consumer Price Index (CPI), Retail Price Index (RPI) and CPIH – its preferred measure of price growth.
The inclusion reflects a significant increase in demand for low and non-alcoholic alternatives, with the ONS citing higher sales volumes, wider product ranges and larger shelf space for non-alcoholic options at UK retailers. The move is widely seen as a recognition of a broader cultural shift, particularly among younger consumers and professionals who are prioritizing well-being.
In addition to non-alcoholic beer, hummus and animal care products were also added to the shopping cart, illustrating how the cost of living calculation is changing due to changing lifestyles. The ONS said hummus had gained importance due to its growing popularity among health-conscious consumers, with UK spending on the product estimated to have reached around £170 million in 2024.
Pet care, meanwhile, reflects the ongoing boom in pet ownership, particularly for smaller, high-maintenance breeds, and households’ increasing willingness to spend on services rather than just goods. Analysts point out that service sector inflation has become a key driver of overall price pressures in recent years, making its accurate representation in the shopping basket increasingly important.
The annual market basket update is intended to ensure that inflation data remains consistent with real spending patterns. Elements that are becoming less relevant are removed to make room for new trends. This year, premium bottled lager purchased in pubs and restaurants has been phased out, as has traditional wrapping paper, replaced with rolls that better reflect modern buying habits.
Other new additions include dashboard cameras and RVs, both of which are seeing increasing demand. Dash cameras have grown in popularity as drivers look to reduce their insurance costs and improve safety, while RVers have benefited from changing post-pandemic lifestyles and a rise in early retirement trends.
The updated basket will be used in the next inflation figures, due to be released on March 25, and comes at a time of heightened sensitivity around the cost of living. While inflation fell to 3 percent in January from 3.4 percent in December, economists expect renewed upward pressure in the coming months, driven in part by rising global energy prices linked to the ongoing Middle East conflict.
The Bank of England, which is targeting inflation of 2 percent, is widely expected to keep interest rates at 3.75 percent at its next meeting as policymakers weigh the risk that rising fuel and transport costs will impact broader price increases.
In parallel with the basket update, the ONS is also modernizing the way inflation is measured. A new system will draw on extensive datasets from retailers and analyze around 300 million price points for more than a billion products each month. This represents a significant departure from traditional in-store price collection, which relied on around 25,000 manually collected data points.
The move to high-volume, real-time data is expected to improve the accuracy and responsiveness of inflation reporting, particularly in fast-moving sectors such as food, energy and consumer goods.
For households, however, the underlying message remains unchanged. Despite some moderation in headline inflation, rising energy costs and global uncertainty mean pressure on everyday spending is unlikely to ease any time soon. The inclusion of non-alcoholic beer, hummus and pet grooming may signal a change in lifestyle, but also reflects the broader reality that the costs of modern living are constantly evolving.
