Changes in the new CPI shopping basket

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The coronavirus has disrupted our entire lives and the way we have been shopping for many months could not escape this , specifically since the second half of March of last year.

Such has been the effect it has had on the Spanish economy that some of the magnitudes that were being used are no longer useful and, of course, the Consumer Price Index (CPI) has not been able to be released.


The coronavirus has caused changes in consumption among Spaniards
The Consumer Price Index (CPI) is an indicator that measures the variation in prices in the families' shopping basket . Within this shopping basket, the goods and services are identified at a given moment in time.

The CPI has been a more or less real indicator of the variation in the cost of a shopping basket in a Spanish household, since it measures the evolution of inflation , that is, the rise in prices of goo  Latvia Email List  ds and services, and if a family loses or gains purchasing power .



The changes that have occurred since March of last year due to changes in consumption due to the different confinements that we have suffered for the different waves of infections, have made a dent in the effectiveness of the CPI and the National Institute of Statistics (INE) has decided make changes to better adapt it to what households now consume.

The CPI must be adapted to the shopping basket of the coronavirus pandemic
Likewise, the National Institute of Statistics (INE) each year carries out a review process of the products and goods included in its shopping basket calculations in order to adapt to household preferences and offer a more adjusted indicator. to reality.

These changes are made according to the Family Budget Survey carried out by the INE and the last one is from , therefore, what was consumed in does not have much to do with what was consumed in

The CPI is calculated from articles , grouped by subclasses, which are finally added to obtain the final index, that is, the general CPI. Although most of the items could be purchased during confinement, there is a small part of these items that have not been available during the coronavirus restrictions such as restaurant services, hospitality, sporting events, etc.

During the past year, the INE has already taken into account two different indicators in order to know the evolution of the prices of a group of products consumed during confinement. These indicators are Covid- Goods and Covid- Services , in order to analyze whether products not affected by the coronavirus pandemic have become more expensive.

Eurostat urges the INE to change the calculation of shopping basket habits in Spain
Although these two differentiated indicators offered better information on the evolution of prices, the INE thinks that they have to evolve during this year, since Eurostat has requested it.

Eurostat has asked the countries of the European Union to review the weights they were using to better adapt to the new conditions of the coronavirus since January of this year.

The INE is structuring a new design of the CPI in Spain with an analysis methodology more adapted to the consumption habits of Spaniards in times of pandemic.

They want to have a list of products in the first half of February in order to publish the data on consumer habits for the month of January of this year and thus carry out a more realistic measurement.

The CPI calculation must reduce the weight of transportation and leisure due to restrictions
The INE in last year's CPI calculation gave greater importance to the group of foods and non-alcoholic beverages, giving a weight of almost percent of the shopping basket, but transportation established it as the second most important expense, giving a weight of almost percent , which right now is not so important.

Clearly, restaurant expenses are not a very important cost with coronavirus restrictions , and last year it was given a weight of just over percent , or also leisure and culture, with a weight of percent. . percent . On the other hand, medical expenses, with a weight of percent last year, should gain more importance in the shopping basket.

The INE is going to analyze the most affected groups of goods and services to establish the new shopping basket, and taking this data into account, it will be quite similar to the consumption habits that have taken place during

In the new shopping basket, the weight of food and non-alcoholic beverages will increase , as well as the weight of alcoholic beverages , spending on medicines, on the other hand, should lower the weight of transportation expenses and the weight of transportation expenses. restoration and leisure.