Italy - Consumer Price Index (CPI)

For Italy, a detailed consumer price index and harmonized consumer price index, classified by COICOP, monthly from January 1957 (general index) or January 1996 (detail).

The source writes:

The consumer price index numbers measure changes over time in prices of a basket of goods and services representative of all those destined for final consumption of households in the area national economic and affordable on the market through monetary transactions (excluding, therefore, transactions for free, own consumption, imputed rent, etc.). The consumer price indices are calculated using the chain index is the Laspeyres type in which the basket is the system of weights are updated annually. The monthly indices are calculated with reference to the month of December last year (calculation basis) and are then concatenated on the period chosen as the baseline in order to measure the dynamics of prices over a period of time longer than one year.

Istat produces three different indices of consumer prices:

• the National Consumer Price Index for the entire community (NIC)
• the Consumer Price Index for Families of Workers and Employees (IOF)
• the Harmonised Index of Consumer Prices for EU countries (HICP)

Aims, field observation, the concept of the three price indexes have different purposes.

The NIC is used as a measure of inflation in the entire economic system, in other words, considering the national community as if it were one big family of consumers, in which the spending habits are obviously very different.

The FOI covers the consumption of all households that are headed by an employee. And 'the index generally used to be regularly adjusted monetary values, such as rents or checks payable to the spouse separated.

The HICP was developed to provide a comparable measure of inflation at the European level. In fact, it is taken as an indicator to verify the convergence of the economies of EU member states. This index is calculated and published by Istat and sent to Eurostat on a monthly basis according to a fixed timetable. Eurostat, in turn, disseminates the harmonized indices of individual EU countries and develop and disseminate the European synthetic index, calculated on the basis of the first.

The three indexes have in common the following elements: price collection, the method of calculation, the territorial basis, the classification of the basket, divided into 12 divisions.

The other three indices differ in specific aspects. In particular, NIC and FOI are based on the same basket and relate to final consumption expenditure is individual regardless of whether the sole responsibility of families, either partially or totally, government or non-profit institutions (ISP) . The weight given to each good or service is different in the two indices, according to the importance that the various fuel products assume the reference population. NIC for the reference population is the entire population, the FOI is the set of families that are headed by a worker or an employee.

The HICP has in common with the NIC to the reference population, but differs from the other two indexes because it refers to money expenditure for final consumption by households supported solely (Household Final Consumption monetary expenditure); also excludes, on the basis of Community regulations Some products such as, for example, lotteries, and pools in the lot.

A further differentiation between the three price indexes for the concept in question: the NIC and FOI always consider the full sale price. The HICP, refers to the price actually paid by the consumer. For example, in the case of medicines, while the national index is considered to be the full price of the product, the harmonized reference price is the actual share borne by households. In addition, the HICP also takes account of temporary price reductions (sales, discounts and promotions) since 2001. This feature can result in some months of cyclical trends significantly different from those of the NIC and FOI indices.

At the source:

• Documenti con tag: Prezzi al consumo