Alcohol-Free Beer, Houmous, and Pet Grooming Added to UK Inflation Basket by ONS

London, UK — March 16, 2026 — The Office for National Statistics (ONS) has updated its inflation basket to include modern consumer items such as alcohol-free beer, houmous, and pet grooming services, reflecting shifts in UK spending habits and lifestyle trends. This update ensures that official measures of the UK cost of living better capture real household expenses.

The ONS inflation basket is a collection of goods and services used to calculate inflation in the UK. Inflation measures, including the Consumer Prices Index (CPI), CPIH (which includes housing costs), and the Retail Prices Index (RPI), rely on this basket to track price changes over time.
Accurate inflation measurement is critical because it influences:
Bank of England interest rate decisions
Wages, pensions, and benefits linked to inflation
Household budgeting and financial planning

The 2026 revision added 27 new items and removed 19 outdated ones, reflecting contemporary UK consumption patterns.
Alcohol-Free Beer
Rising health-consciousness has driven the popularity of alcohol-free beer, making it a relevant addition to the inflation basket. Increased sales and wider availability highlight changing drinking habits across the UK.
Houmous
Once a niche product, houmous is now a common grocery purchase. Its inclusion reflects growing demand for plant-based and healthy food options.
Pet Grooming Services
Spending on pets goes beyond food and veterinary care. Pet grooming services now feature in the inflation basket, capturing discretionary household expenditure on pet care.

Dashboard cameras: reflecting spending on personal security
Motorhomes and caravans: capturing growing leisure and travel expenses

The ONS also removed items that no longer reflect typical UK spending, such as:
Premium bottled lager (consolidated under other alcohol categories)
Sheets of wrapping paper (replaced by rolls of wrapping paper for accuracy)
These updates ensure the basket mirrors current UK shopping behavior.

A major methodological change accompanies the 2026 updates: over half of grocery prices will now come from supermarket scanner data, automatically collected from tills. This ensures:
More accurate and real-time pricing
Better representation of what UK households actually buy

By including items like alcohol-free beer, houmous, and pet grooming, the ONS ensures inflation measures better reflect real-world consumer spending. This has implications for:
Policy decisions by the Bank of England
Pension and benefit adjustments
Financial planning for UK households
As lifestyle trends evolve, the inflation basket must adapt to accurately capture rising living costs across the country.