One type of video game got 40% more expensive in a month in the UK
Key Points
- Computer game download prices rose 40% between August and September
- The same measure rose 16.1% in the same month last year
- Game downloads were the second-biggest driver of recreation and culture prices
- Phone and broadband prices rose 5.8% over the year
- UK inflation rose to 3.5% in September
Computer game downloads cost 40% more in September than in August, according to the Office for National Statistics (ONS). The same measure rose 16.1% between August and September last year.
The ONS figure tracks the change over a single month, not across a full year. Game downloads ranked behind only live music as a driver of higher recreation and culture prices in September.
Live music prices rose 0.9% in September, after falling 8.6% in the same month last year. Recreation and culture prices rose 0.7% in the month, compared with little change a year earlier. That pushed the annual rate for the category to 2.3%, up from 1.6% in August.
The ONS listed computer software, televisions, Blu-ray discs and music downloads among the smaller upward contributors. Package holidays, cultural events and leisure classes also added to the category’s rise.
The government’s Great British Summer Savings scheme ended on 1 September, and the ONS said its reversal likely pushed up prices for cultural events, historic monuments and cinema admissions.
The statistics body said the scheme’s end did not appear to have a substantial overall impact on headline inflation.
Communication prices, which include phone and broadband services, rose 5.8% over the year, up from 5.3% in August.
UK inflation climbed to 3.5% in September, up from 3.1% the previous month. The ONS will publish its next set of inflation figures on 18 November.
