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Communicating the German CPI

Communicating the German CPI. DESTATIS „Price Kaleidoscope“ prepared for the Joint UNECE/ILO Meeting on Consumer Price Indices 10-12 May 2010, Palais des Nations, Geneva. General requirements. CPIs have a broad range of users and are in the focus of public interest

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Communicating the German CPI

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  1. Communicating the German CPI DESTATIS „Price Kaleidoscope“ prepared for the Joint UNECE/ILO Meeting on Consumer Price Indices 10-12 May 2010, Palais des Nations, Geneva

  2. General requirements • CPIs have a broad range of users and are in the focus of public interest • Permanent challenge to explain the making of the index numbers to users with completely different levels of knowledge • Need for user oriented publications and comprehensive meta data access.

  3. New challenges • Public debates in recent years indicate a gap between perceived price increases and the official inflation rate • Introduction of Euro cash as a turning point • VAT increase in January 2007 • Increasing food prices • Volatility of petrol prices • Need for actions to defend the credibility of CPI • New communication strategy

  4. Main messages to the public • The CPI is a mean value of many disparate price movements • The overall CPI is supplemented by the monthly publication of more than 600 CPI sub-indices • The “basket of goods” is comprehensive, services are included • Be aware of the importance of the weights for the index calculation

  5. New opportunities • The Internet offers new ways to address the public • DESTATIS developed a series of new on-line communication tools in order to explain the making of the CPI in an intuitive and playful way • New web based applications aim at improving the image of official statistics in the broad public

  6. New interactive communication tools

  7. Personal Inflation Calculator • Introduced in 2005 as a didactical instrument • Focus on: • Influence of weighting • Impact of consumption habits http://www.destatis.de/jetspeed/portal/cms/Sites/destatis/Internet/EN/Graphics/SVG/IndexrechnerSVG,templateId=renderSVG.psml

  8. Price Monitor • Introduced in July 2006 to accompany the VAT increase in Germany in January 2007 • Focus on: • Detailed breakdown • Frequently bought goods • Price fluctuations http://www.destatis.de/jetspeed/portal/cms/Sites/destatis/Internet/EN/Navigation/Statistics/TimeSeries/EconomicIndicators/Pricemonitor/Overview__nk,templateId=renderPrint.psml__nnn=true

  9. “Most striking price changes” • Introduced in 2008 as a new option: embedding a chart into the own website • Focus on: • Detailed breakdown • Price fluctuations http://www.destatis.de/jetspeed/portal/cms/Sites/destatis/Internet/EN/Graphics/Prices/Photography/PriceTrends,templateId=renderLarge.psml

  10. Zero percent inflation – but many prices moving Press release No. 335 / 2009-09-09 „The inflation rate in August 2009 was 0.0 percent – the consumer price index for Germany did not change on the same month a year earlier. Nevertheless, prices of many goods and services in August 2009 were markedly higher or lower than a year earlier. The „zero“ results from the fact that price increases and price decreases offset each other because the inflation rate is calculated as a weighted average of all changes in consumer prices.“ Price Kaleidoscope • Introduced in September 2009 as an eye catcher in addition to the existing tools • Based on the idea and with support of Michael BALZER, University of Konstanz, Germany • Focus on: • Variability of weights and price trends between product groups • Complexity of CPI http://www.destatis.de/jetspeed/portal/cms/Sites/destatis/Internet/EN/Graphics/SVG/PriceKaleidoscope,templateId=renderSVG.psml

  11. Feedback on the new communication tools

  12. Feedback on the new communication tools

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