eBooks added to cost of living in UK

The UK Office for National Statistics will include eBooks among the list of items used to calculate the changing cost of living.  An article in the Daily Mail this week revealed that  changes in what we eat, the way we read and how we celebrate have been reflected in the basket of goods used to calculate inflation.

Out go lettuce and restaurant champagne, in come stir-fry vegetables, blueberries, salami – and the eBook. The changes were revealed  as the Office of National Statistics listed nearly 700 goods it will use to track prices over the next year.

It is a sign of their growing acceptance, that eBooks have been included by government statisticians in the basket of goods used to measure the cost of living. The annual changes to the inflation basket, which the Office for National Statistics uses to monitor the impact of rising prices, provides an official snapshot of the changing spending habits and lifestyles in Britain.