Long description

Two concentric circles showing the structure of the Retail Prices Index in 2012, based on data from www.ons.gov.uk. The inner circle shows 5 sectors, representing the 5 fundamental groups of goods and services, each with their own colour. The biggest sector, making an angle of about 150 degrees at the centre, is coloured green and represents Housing and household expenditure. Reading round the circle clockwise from that sector there is a small sector, making an angle of about 30 degrees, coloured red and labelled Personal expenditure. The next sector, making an angle of approximately 90 degrees at the centre, is coloured yellow and labelled Travel and leisure. The next sector, making an angle of approximately 60 degrees at the centre, and coloured dark blue, is labelled Food and catering. The last sector, making an angle of about 30 degrees at the centre is labelled Alcohol and tobacco. The outer circle forms a concentric ring round the inner circle. Each of the sectors in the inner circle is subdivided in the ring, to show a breakdown of the relevant type of expenditure. The colour coding continues, but the colours in the outer ring are paler than those in the inner circle.

Housing and household expenditure is divided into four. These are 1 housing, 2 fuel and light, 3 household goods and 4 household services, with housing accounting for about half the expenditure in this sector. Personal expenditure is split into two approximately equal parts, 1 clothing and footwear and 2 personal goods and services. Travel and leisure is split into four parts. The first and largest of these, accounting for about half the expenditure in this sector, is labelled motoring expenditure. The second is fares and other travel costs and the third is leisure goods, which together amount to about the same expenditure as the fourth part, leisure services. ‘Food and catering’ is divided into two, separating food from catering, with the part labelled catering being less than half that of food. Alcohol and tobacco is split between the two, with alcohol being almost twice the size of tobacco.