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CPI and RPI: the 2008 basket of goods and services
Describes the annual review process and explains how and why the various items in the baskets are chosen
Authors: Philip Gooding, Damon Wingfield
Economic & Labour Market Review, vol 2, no 4, pp 25-31. ISSN: 1751-8334
As part of a process of continual improvement, and to help ensure that the consumer prices index (CPI) and retail prices index (RPI) are representative of consumer spending patterns, the items that are priced in compiling the indices are reviewed each year. This article describes the review process and explains how and why the various items in the CPI and RPI baskets are chosen. The contents of the CPI and RPI baskets for 2008 are summarised in Annexes A and B. Similar articles have been published in previous years. This article also describes two changes to the methodology used to compile the CPI and RPI. These relate to the measurement of gas and electricity, and fresh fruit and vegetable prices.
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