Guilty pleasures are getting cheaper across much of the UK despite soaring inflation, but not in Scotland, a study has found.
A leading economist has put together a cost of living index which tracks the prices of booze, tobacco, chocolate, ice cream, takeaway pizzas and package holidays, among other items of expenditure.
And the results are startling – while the UK Government’s official measure of inflation, the Consumer Prices Index (CPI), shows Britain’s cost of living up 9% year-on-year, the new Consumer Vices Index (CVI) created by John Hawksworth tells a different story.
The CVI basket of goods rose by 4.5% – exactly half the CPI increase – and actually became 1.1% cheaper relative to UK median pay growth over the year to April 2022.
Scots are still forking out more, year-on-year, but people in many other parts of the UK are paying less under the CVI measure.
Scotland tops the UK “sinflation” table of CVI minus wage growth, with prices up 0.4%.
This is said to be due to the country’s “relatively modest” pay growth and a greater average spend on tobacco products, for which prices have risen sharply in the past year.
Mr Hawksworth’s study was commissioned by InvestingReviews.co.uk, a comparison review website that was set up to help people make smarter decisions about investing.
Here is its breakdown of how the seven “sins” which make up the CVI are performing UK-wide, relative to pay:
- Booze – the price of off-licence alcohol has dipped 4.4%, relative to wage growth.
- Chocolate biscuits, ice cream, confectionery, sugar etc – the price of snacks linked to obesity has fallen by 2.5%.
- Soft drinks targeted by the so-called “sugar tax” are down by 0.6%.
- Horse racing – critics say it’s a gateway to gambling addiction but the official data shows a day out at the “gee-gees” has never been cheaper. Admission fees are down by 5.5% year-on-year, relative to pay.
- Package holidays – deals are becoming more affordable, down by 2.5%.
- Fast food and takeaways – curries, burgers, pizzas and other treats linked to obesity are starting to creep up in price but only by a mere 1%, relative to pay.
- Tobacco – the highest climber of all but still only 2.2% more costly year-on-year.
InvestingReviews.co.uk chief executive Simon Jones said: “At long last we have some positive data to report.
“Booze, choccie biscuits, and even a trip to the local racetrack are all becoming more affordable.
“No one is pretending any of these things are remotely good for you – but with all the doom and gloom around, people are entitled to live a little.”
Mr Hawksworth said: “Families have been hit hard in recent months by sharp rises in energy, petrol and basic food bills that have pushed headline inflation rates to the highest seen in a generation.
“But our analysis shows there is a small silver lining in that a tight labour market has pushed up pay growth, relative to pre-Covid norms across the UK.
“This has made some of life’s guilty pleasures – from cake and biscuits to alcohol and package holidays – relatively more affordable over the past year, even as other cost of living pressures have increased.”
“No one is pretending any of these things are remotely good for you – but with all the doom and gloom around, people are entitled to live a little.”
Simon Jones, chief executive, InvestingReviews.co.uk
Mr Hawksworth, a former chief economist at accountancy giant PwC, created a virtual basket of around 100 “minor vices” in order to track the cost of Britain’s bad habits.
His index is based on price data from the Office for National Statistics and a PAYE employment and earnings analysis of figures produced by HM Revenue and Customs,
Despite Northern Ireland’s Brexit woes, life’s indulgences in the Six Counties were relatively cheapest, down 2% year-on-year, thanks mainly to “strong wage growth”.
South-west England and London, down by 1.8% and 1.4% respective, also did well under the CVI measure.
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