The Office of National Statistics (ONS) in the UK are adding iPods to the basket of goods used to track inflation and price changes in the UK, replacing items such as slippers, personal CD players and chocolate biscuits.
As well as MP3 players, music downloads are also being added into the mix, to present a more meaningful reflection of current consumer spending patterns. The economic sampling tracks a number of more or less typical goods and as retail prices rise, or fall, the changes are recorded.
Other new inclusions in the annual review are flat-panel televisions and digital camcorders, in a move to improve the coverage of technological goods.
In total, 30 new items were added for monitoring.
