UK to overhaul inflation measurement with 1b grocery sales data

The UK will significantly enhance its inflation measurement by collecting price data from over 1 billion grocery sales units each month starting in March 2025, the Office for National Statistics (ONS) announced.

This new system, covering 50 per cent of the grocery market, will replace the current method, where ONS collectors manually record 25,000 prices per month.

The updated approach will capture around 300 million price points derived from these sales, offering a broader and more comprehensive view of grocery prices. It will track prices across the entire month rather than on specific days and will also account for quantities sold, reflecting changes in consumer behaviour due to price fluctuations.

This development follows recent improvements by the ONS, including the integration of digital data for all consumer train fares last year and the expansion of price points for second-hand cars from 105 to 300,000 per month this year.

Despite these upgrades, the ONS will maintain its traditional price collection methods for smaller grocery stores and other outlets.

Attribution: Reuters