CPI Inflation Up 2.7%

The CPI annual inflation for November 2012 was 2.7%, the same as in October. The index sttod at 124.4 (2005=100). The index was unchanged over all but there were significant changes both upward and downward within the CPI between October and November.

The most significant upward pressure to annual inflation came from food and non-alcoholic beverages, mainly bread, cereals and vegetables and housing and household services mainly gas and electricity. The main downward pressure came from motor fuel and furniture, household equipment and maintenance.

The RPI annual inflation stands at 245.6 in November or 3%, down from 3.2% in October. Motoring expenditure, household and household goods provided the main downward pressure. The main upward pressure came from food.

The CPI measures the changes in the general level of prices for goods and services bought for household consumption. It can be seen as a shopping basket of many different goods and services bought by households. The CPI is the main measure of consumer price inflation for macro-economic purposes. It is used as the basis for the Government's target for inflation that the Bank of England has to achieve. It is also used for the indexation of benefits, tax credits and public service pensions. It is known internationally as the Harmonised Index of Consumer Prices (HICP). HICPs are calculated in each Member State of the European Union. They are used to compare inflation rates across the EU.

The RPI is the longest standing measure of inflation in the UK and historically was used in the indexation of various prices and incomes, the uprating of pensions, state benefits and index-linked gilts and the valorisation of excise duties. Since April 2011 the CPI has been used for some of the previous uses of the RPI as mentioned above.

Some of the main differences between the CPI and the RPI include the population base, item coverage, index methodology and item coding. The CPI population base includes all private and institutional households and foreign visitors. The RPI only includes private households and excludes the highest income households and pensioner households (c.13% of household expenditure). The CPI excludes certain items related to housing costs like mortgage interest payments, house depreciation and council tax that are included in the RPI. The RPI uses the arithmetic mean, the CPI uses the geometric mean. The CPI uses a standard internatikonal classification scheme and the RPI uses a system unique to itself.

Internet Users Increase To 82.9%

The number of people in UK who have ever used the Internet increased to 41.62m adults in Q3 2011, equivalent to 82.9% of the adult population. The remainder were the 8.43m adults or 16.8% of the population who have never used the Internet.

Socio-economic and demographic characteristics are linked to Internet use. Age, disability, location and earnings are example characteristics of Internet users. The never using the Internet include the over 65s, the disabled and the widowed.

The largest proportion of users according to age were the youngest aged 16-24 at 98.6%. The over 75s group decreased in its number of non-users from 76.3% to 72.4%. There were 4.25m disabled adults who had never used the Internet (over half of the total non-users).

As regards earnings the proportion of Internet non-users declines with successive weekly pay bands. Those on less than £200/week had the most non-users at 8.3%. There were no Internet non-users among those paid over £1,000/week.

Farm Land Birds In England

Farmland bird populations declined between 2008 and 2009. The unsmoothed index showed a decline of 5% for England and the smoothed index showed a decline of 3%. Both indices are lower than their lowest recorded value since the 1966 starting value by 53%.

Bird indicators are regarded as being a good indicator of general stat of wildlife because they occupy a wide range of habitats. Twelve of the species included in the index declined between 2008 and 2009 and seven species increased. Many of the species showing a downward trend have been in decline for four or five years. Goldfinch and Jackdaw have shown long-term upward trends.

The indicators of wild bird populations are published by Defra along with the RSPB and the BTO. They show changes in the breeding and wintering populations of common bird species.

Ageing In The European Union

Ageing in the context of EU statistics is the increase over time of the percentage share of the over 65 age group in the total population of a given area. It is increasing in the EU because of two factors. The first is that the number of people over 65 is growing and the second is because the number of children in age group 0-14 year is getting smaller. This is a general picture though and there are considerable variations in the types of area and NUTS3 areas.

The release from Eurostat tells us that rural areas are losing their young people faster than urban areas. It presents the populaton changes in 1158 NUTS3 areas of 26 member states (not UK) between 2001-2006. It takes the level of rurality of NUTS3 into account for three age groups - 0-14, 15-64, 65 and over. The changes mean variations in the population's composition.

The total population of EU27 has increased by 1.9% or 8,217,047 people with an increase of 9,708,045 people in the EU15 offset by a decrease in the new member states of 1,490,998 people or -1.4%. The 0-14 age group has decreased by 4.4%, the 15-64 age group increased by 1.9% and the over 65s by 8.9% or 5,961,157 people. A contrast can be seen between the 'old' and 'new' member states. In the new member states the 0-14 age group shrank by 14% and the over 65s increased by 5.3%. The over 65s in the EU15 increeased by 9.8%.

The types of area (TOA) analysis also show remarkable results. Ageing continues at a more pronounced rate in predominantly urban areas (46%), except in Spain and remained the same in Ireland and Sweden. Only 16.5% of the increase can be attributed to rural areas in EU27 where 21.4% of the population live. The combined effect of the two factors influencing population change mean that Germany, Greece and Latvia show a rapidly ageing population while France, Spain, Portugal and Italy, where over 20% of the population in rural areas is over 65, show smaller and even negative growth. In Bulgaria there has been a 5% population loss overall with a 10% loss in predominantly rural areas. It is also significant that in there areas the percentage of children fell by up to 17%. Also in Bulgaria where the number of over 65s fell by 4% they were not replaced by numbers from the working population.

The highest population gains at NUTS3 level were in Spain and Ireland with Guadalajara in Spain, an intermediate area, gaining 24.5% in population. At the other extreme Bulgaria and Germany decreased the most in population. The population of Kardzhali in Bulgaria, a predominantly rural area, decreased by 21%. The German areas were exclusively in the former East Germany. Barnim in Germany, an intermediate area, saw the highest increase in people aged 65 and over with an increase of 33.3% with Neubrandenburg on 33.2% and Potsdam on 32.9%. Vratsa, a predominantly rural area in Bulgaria, saw an decrease of 15.9% in the same age group. The highest increase in the over 65 age group was in Germany and the growth was not limited to the east but covered large areas of the west as well.

There were contrasts between east and west Germany and between north and south Italy. Only Berlin in eastern Germany grew in population size. Areas of northern Italy grew while the population of the south of Italy decreased.

More Green Belt Statistics UK

The latest Green belt statistics from the DCLG tell us that on 31 March 2010 there was an estimated 1,639,560 hectares of designated Green Belt land in England. This amounts to about 13% of the total land area of England. The designated Green Belt area of England in March 2009 has been revised and the estimation is now 1,639,650 hectares which amounts to an increase of 810 hectares on the estimate published by DCLG in April 2009. The difference is due to the correcting, improving of measurements of local authorities using digitised data from geographical information systems as opposed to paper maps and Positional Accuracy improvements by the Ordnance Survey. The Comprehensive Spending Review resulted in Departmental Strategic Objectives on Planning which relate to net change in the national area of Green Belt land. The indicator used for this is sustaining the level of Green Belt nationally measured regionally. There has been a net real decreas decrease of 80 hectares between April 2009 and March 2010. The difference is due to new plans being adopted in South Cambridgeshire (70 hectares) and the Mole Valley (10 hectares).

Green Belt policy comprises five purposes for including land in designated Green Belt areas. They are to check urban sprawl, to prevent the merging of neighbouring towns, the safeguard the countryside from encroachment, the preservation of the setting and character of historic towns and to help urban regeneration by encouraging the recycling of derelict and other urban land. Green Belt land once identified can then provide the urban population with opportunities of access to the open countryside and outdoor sport and leisure, the retention and enhancement of landscapes near inhabited areas, improvement of damaged and derelict land, nature conservation and the retaining of land in agricultural, forestry and other related uses.

Wild Birds In Britain's Countryside

A recent statistical release from Defra provides the latest figures on the bird populations on farmland and woodland and all-native wild birds in the English Government Office Regions between 1994-2008.

The statistics say that between 1994-2008 farmland birds declined by 10% or more in five of the Government's Regions namely the South-West, South East, the East of England, the East Midlands and the West Midlands. The South East reported the largest decline of 23% below the 1994 baseline. The overall farmland birds indicator fell by 11% in that period. At the national level, there were declines of over 25% in Corn Bunting, Linnet, Grey Partridge, Yellow Wagtail, Starling and Turtle Dove and increases of over 25% in Jackdaw, Goldfinch, Tree Sparrow, Woodpigeon and Whitethroat.

The woodland bird indicator increased by more than 10% between 1994 and 2008 in four regions - the North West, the North East, Yorkshire and Humberside and the East Midlands. The indicator fell in two regions, the South East and the South West. The largest regional increase was in the North West at 43%. Yorkshire and Humberside came next with a 31% increase. The overall woodland bird indicator for England fell 6% over the same period. Nationally, there were declines of over 50% in Great Spotted Woodpecker, Goldcrest, Nuthatch, Chiffchaff and Green Woodpecker and increases of over 50% in Spotted Flycatcher, Wood Warbler and Willow Tit.

The all-native bird indicator for England increased by 3%. The all-native bird population indicator increased by 10% in three regions, Yorkshire and Humberside, the North East and the North West. The biggest increase was in the North West with 26%.

The data for the Defra statistical reports were based on annual data from the British Trust for Ornithology's Breeding Bird Survey (BBS).

Population Increases To Over 61 Million

The resident population of UK in mid-2008 is estimated to have been 61,383,000, up 408,000 on 2007 and 2m on mid-2001. The main contributor to the growth was 'natural change' in the difference between births and deaths. It is the first time in nearly 10 years that it has overtaken net migration as the main contributor.

The higher life expectancy of females is reflected in the fact that older females outnumber older males. The 'baby boomers', now aged between 39-48, are still 'bulging'. The low fertility of the 1970s is reflected in a narrowing of the population pyramid for ages between 31 and 38 and the pyramid also narrows between ages of 7 and 20 due to the low fertility of the late 1980s to early 2000s. From 2003 onwards the base has broadened because of an increasing number of births. The population continues to age. The over 85s reached a record 1.3m or 2% of the population in mid-2008 (422,000 men and 914,000 women). There were more pensioners than under-16s, 11.5m compared to 11.8m.

There are two main theories of population growth, the classical and the modern. Classical theory, the 'dismal science', emphasises real wage rates and the subsistence wage level, modern theory emphasises the improvements in health, hygiene and medicine that have enables people to overcome diseases and live longer and healthier lives. Population growth brings an increase in the demand for capital but is independent of economic growth and can still be very useful in economic model building. The Labour Force Survey and the Workforce-in Employment survey both use population data in comparing the UK with other EU and OECD countries and in calculating the unemployment rate, the participation rate and the employment-to-population ratio. The classical theorists are invalidated to some extent by the inverse relation of real income growth and population growth. Demand of all kinds depends on the size and age structure of the population.