Consumer Price Indices (CPIs) are economic indicators constructed to measure the changes over time in the prices of consumer goods and services acquired, used or paid for by households. Harmonized Indices of Consumer Prices (HICPs) are designed for international comparisons of consumer price inflation. They are used in the assessment of inflation convergence as required under Article 121 of the Treaty of Amsterdam (Article 109j of the Treaty on European Union).
They are broken down by category of consumption expenditure on the basis of the COICOP/HICP nomenclature. Moreover, some Special Aggregates are also available for example indices covering goods, services, energy, or excluding some components as energy and unprocessed food etc. HICP data are computed on the basis of a chained Laspeyres formula and they are presented in index form with reference year 2005=100. Various kinds of inflation rates of change (monthly, annual and annual averages) are also available.
Data presented are not seasonally adjusted. Seasonally adjusted data can be found at http://www.ecb.int/stats/prices/hicp/html/index.en.html. A flash estimate of the current annual inflation rate of the euro area (MUICP) is compiled at the end of each month and is available in a separate table.
HICP data is one of the key variables for euro area monetary policy. Currently, the ECB has defined price stability to mean an annual rate of increase of the Harmonised Index of Consumer Prices (HICP) of below, but close to, 2 percent over the medium term.
For more information about data availability and methodology of calculation contact us.
