Consumer price indices

The consumer price index (CPI) expresses the change in the prices of consumer goods and services.

In order to calculate the consumer price index, it is first necessary to determine what an average private consumer regularly buys. The expenditures are then categorised according to the European Classification of Individual Consumption According to Purpose (ECOICOP, ver. 2), and their shares in the total index (known as index weights) are calculated. For the calculation of the index, it is necessary to choose the goods and services for which price changes will be monitored. These are called representative goods. Then, it is decided how the prices are collected and used for the calculation of the consumer price index.

Statistics Estonia updates the CPI weights and the list of representative goods annually. The weights correspond to the average expenditure structure of the population in the previous year. The base period for the calculation is "December of the previous year = 100".

The prices of goods and services are recorded in ten Estonian cities every month. The reference period is the week including the 15th day of the month.

According to the current classification, expenditure is divided into 13 main groups. In order to allow comparisons over time, we continue to publish the consumer price index using the base year 1997 = 100. The time series does not go beyond 1997 as a different methodology was used before that. The index is published on the fifth working day of the month following the reference month.

The consumer price index is widely used to update various contractual fees as well as to adjust pensions and wages.