UK CPIH basket weight: recreation and culture
UK CPIH basket weight: recreation and culture stood at 120.19 parts per 1000 in 2026, according to Office for National Statistics (ONS). It is one of the indicators in the Consumer price index weights table (Value · Annual), with a complete series running from 1988 to 2026. The complete series with an interactive chart, free to download.
This indicator in the Consumer price index weights table
| Indicator | 2026 | 2025 | 2024 | 2023 | 2022 | 2021 | 2020 | 2019 | 2018 | 2017 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| CPIH basket, all items | 1,000 | 1,000 | 1,000 | 1,000 | 1,000 | 1,000 | 1,000 | 1,000 | 1,000 | 1,000 | |
| CPIH weight by division | |||||||||||
| Recreation and culture | 120.19 | 119.18 | 115.12 | 112 | 105 | 112 | 136 | 127 | 120 | 121 |
Understanding UK CPIH basket weight: recreation and culture
Creative arts, audio-visual equipment, outdoor pursuits, pet products, and packaged holidays dictate the proportional share this recreation and culture division holds inside the overarching consumer prices index incorporating owner occupiers' housing costs for the United Kingdom. Differing from the standard consumer price measure by its inclusion of housing expenses, this sibling series scales all constituent categories downward to accommodate shelter costs, meaning identical absolute outlays on leisure goods represent a marginally lighter footprint here. The metric tallies parts per one thousand of household expenditure, blending tangible pastimes like gardening equipment and reading materials with intangible services such as cultural admissions, broadcasting subscriptions, and sporting fees.
Annual basket reweighting introduces structural breaks that analysts must account for when tracking long-term shifts in leisure spending habits, since shifting consumer preferences and new product introductions routinely alter the boundaries of this division. Comparing these parts per one thousand figures directly against standard consumer price weights without adjusting for the housing denominator adjustment will distort relative category sizes. Evaluating shifts across successive annual weight updates reveals how household priorities evolve, though seasonal purchasing patterns for holidays and seasonal equipment mean that year-on-year comparisons of the underlying price indices require careful handling alongside these fixed proportional weights.
Frequently asked questions
- Why does this division carry a different weight here compared to the standard consumer price index?
- The inclusion of owner occupiers' housing costs and council tax expands the total denominator, proportionally reducing the weight assigned to recreation and culture.
- How frequently are these leisure and cultural weights updated?
- The proportions are revised annually to reflect shifting household spending patterns across the United Kingdom.
- Does this series measure the actual price changes of recreational goods?
- No, this series records the proportional importance of the division within the basket, not the price movements themselves.