It-tibdil fil-prezzijiet u l-effetti tiegħu fuq l-inflazzjoni
FʼJannar 2024, l-ogħla rati taʼ inflazzjoni kienu rreġistrati fl-Ikel u x-xorb mhux alkoħoliku (10.1 fil-mija) u fl-Edukazzjoni (5.6 fil-mija). Min-naħa l-oħra, l-inqas rati annwali tal-inflazzjoni kienu fil-Komunikazzjoni (-9.4 fil-mija) u fil-Ħwejjeġ u ż-żraben (-0.8 fil-mija) (Tabella nru 1).
Ċart nru 1. Rati taʼ inflazzjoni
No Data Found
Ċart nru 2 turi l-impatt irreġistrat mit-tnax-il taqsima tal-ECOICOP fuq ir-rata annwali tal-inflazzjoni. Impatt huwa kejl li jindika l-kontribuzzjoni fuq l-inflazzjoni għal kull taqsima. L-impatt jikkunsidra kemm il-piżijiet tal-indiċijiet kif ukoll ir-rata annwali tal-inflazzjoni skont it-taqsima.
FʼJannar tal-2024, l-akbar impatt pożittiv fuq l-inflazzjoni annwali ġie mill-Indiċi tal-Ikel u x-xorb mhux alkoħoliku (+1.80 punti perċentwali), l-aktar minħabba prezzijiet ogħla tal-ħaxix. It-tieni u t-tielet l-akbar impatti pożittivi fuq l-inflazzjoni ġew innotati fl-Indiċi tar-Ristoranti u lukandi (+0.69 punti perċentwali) u fl-Indiċi tal-Akkomodazzjoni, ilma, elettriku, gass u tipi taʼ karburanti oħrajn (+0.44 punti perċentwali), l-aktar minħabba prezzijiet ogħla fis-servizzi tar-ristoranti u l-kirjiet, rispettivament.
L-akbar impatti negattivi fuq l-inflazzjoni annwali ġew irreġistrati fl-Indiċi tal-Komunikazzjoni (-0.38 punti perċentwali), fl-Indiċi tal-Ħwejjeġ u ż-żraben (-0.04 punti perċentwali) u fl-Indiċi tar-Rikreazzjoni u l-kultura (-0.03 punti perċentwali), l-aktar minħabba prezzijiet inqas tas-servizzi tal-mowbajl, taż-żraben u tal-vaganzi bʼkollox inkluż (Ċart nru 2).
Ċart nru 2. Il-kontribut tat-tnax-il taqsima ewlenija tal-ECOICOP għar-rata annwali tal-inflazzjoni
Jannar 2024
No Data Found
Nota: Punt perċentwali huwa d-differenza aritmetika bejn żewġ persentaġġi.
L-HICP (Malta u ż-żona tal-ewro)
Din is-sezzjoni tqabbel l-indiċi armonizzat tal-prezzijiet tal-konsumaturi għal Malta mal-aħħar ċifri taż-żona tal-ewro. F’Jannar, ir-rata annwali għal Malta kienet ta’ 3.7 fil-mija, 0.9 punti perċentwali aktar mir-rata ta’ 2.81 fil-mija rreġistrata fiż-żona tal-ewro (Ċart nru 3).
Ċart nru 3. It-taqsimiet kollha tal-HICP f’Malta u fiż-żona tal-ewro
No Data Found
¹ L-aħħar data disponibbli għaż-żona tal-ewro hija stima, li tkun għadha proviżorja.
Sors: NSO u Eurostat.
Methodological Notes
1. Accessing data
HICP and RPI NSO news releases may be accessed from the Prices dedicated page.
Eurostat news releases on HICP may be accessed from Eurostat’s website.
2. Overview
The HICP measures monthly price changes in the cost of purchasing a representative basket of consumer goods and services. The HICP is calculated according to rules specified in a series of European Union (EU) regulations that were developed by Eurostat in conjunction with the EU Member States. The HICP is used to compare inflation rates across the EU. A closely related measure of price movements is the Retail Price Index (RPI). A description of the differences between the HICP and the RPI can be found in methodological note 3 of this news release.
Each monthly HICP news release includes three different measures of inflation:
i. The annual inflation rate measures average price changes between the reference month and the same month of the previous year. Although responsive to recent changes in price levels, this measure can be influenced by one-off effects in either month.
ii. The monthly inflation rate compares price changes between the reference month and the previous month. This measure can be highly influenced by seasonal effects.
iii. The 12-month moving average rate overcomes the volatility of the above two rates by comparing the average of the latest 12 indices to the average of the previous 12 indices. This measure is less sensitive to temporary changes in prices.
3. Differences between HICP and RPI
Both indices are compiled using a large and representative selection of more than 500 different goods and services for which price movements are regularly monitored. More than 19,000 separate price quotations are used each month to compile the Index.
The methodology underlying HICP and RPI is similar, yet they differ by the following:
i. The HICP covers private households, institutional households (such as retirement homes) and foreign visitors to Malta, whereas the RPI captures private households only.
ii. The population base year of the two indices is different. The HICP is a chain-linked index with the weights reviewed on an annual basis. On the other hand, the RPI is a fixed base index with weights periodically updated in line with the Household Budgetary Survey. Unlike the RPI, where the sample of goods and services changes every time the weights are updated, newly significant goods and services can be introduced in the HICP framework on an annual basis.
iii. The coverage of the HICP is based on an international classification system, ECOICOP (European Classification of Individual Consumption by Purpose), whereas the RPI has a different set of codes for each group of items, as listed in the table below.
| ECOICOP division | Weight (out of 1000) |
RPI group | Weight (out of 100) |
||
| 1 | Food and non-alcoholic beverages | 180.18 | 1 | Food (including restaurant services and take-aways) | 21.49 |
| 2 | Alcoholic beverages and tobacco | 35.25 | 2 | Beverages and tobacco | 5.56 |
| 3 | Clothing and footwear | 41.38 | 3 | Clothing and footwear | 6.62 |
| 4 | Housing, water, electricity, gas and other fuels | 101.77 | 4 | Housing | 7.90 |
| 5 | Furniture, household equipment and routine household maintenance | 83.88 | 5 | Water, electricity, gas and fuels | 3.31 |
| 6 | Health | 46.88 | 6 | Furnishing and household equipment | 6.97 |
| 7 | Transport | 123.69 | 7 | Transport and communication | 22.10 |
| 8 | Communication | 38.56 | 8 | Personal care and health | 8.81 |
| 9 | Recreation and culture | 83.95 | 9 | Recreation and culture (including education) | 9.90 |
| 10 | Education | 27.32 | 10 | Other goods and services | 7.34 |
| 11 | Restaurants and hotels | 158.11 | |||
| 12 | Miscellaneous goods and services | 79.03 | |||
| Total | 1000.00 | Total | 100.00 |
Apart from the disparities identified above, both the HICP and the RPI:
- have the same geographic coverage, implying that both indices refer to the whole country;
- utilise the same price collection methodologies; and,
- utilise the same outlet sample (with some exceptions).
4. Explaining divergences between HICP and RPI inflation
The HICP and RPI price indices bear several similarities and often produce similar inflation estimates. However, in some cases, inherent methodological differences between the two indices, particularly differences in the consumption basket and in the weights given to these products, cause the inflation rates reported by these two measures to diverge.
5. Further information
The HICP is used to compare inflation rates across the EU. It has been used by the European Central Bank (ECB) as the measure of price stability across the euro area since January 1999. Indeed, the HICP was developed in the EU for the purpose of assessing whether prospective members of the European Monetary Union would meet the inflation convergence criterion, later acting as the measure of inflation used by the ECB to assess price stability in the euro area. The main requirement was for a measure that could be used to make reliable comparisons of inflation rates across EU Member States. Such comparisons are not possible using national consumer price indices due to differences in index coverage and construction.
The HICP is published with 2015 as its base year. The previous series with reference 2005=100 has been discontinued. Commission Regulation (EU) No 2015/2010 provides the legal basis for updating the HICP reference year from 2005=100 to 2015=100. It should be noted that the re-basing operation was conducted after rounding all past indices to one decimal place. Therefore, there might be slight differences when comparing this series with past data due to rounding.
The HICP largely follows National Accounts (NA) concepts of what constitutes household consumption in determining the index scope and mainly uses NA data sources to weight the items in the basket. This makes for increased coherence between the HICP commodity and population coverage and NA principles. As a result, HICP weights are based on the final consumption expenditure of all individuals in the domestic territory, including spending by private households, institutional households and foreign visitors. NA principles have also influenced the classification of goods and services within this index. The basket of consumption items considered for the HICP is reviewed annually in line with NA data collected over a 12-month period in order to obtain an estimate of the average household expenditure. New products are included in the basket of items when achieving a sales volume of over one part per thousand of total consumer expenditure covered by the HICP.
The HICP weighting scheme is annually updated in accordance with Commission Regulation (EU) No 1114/2010. The treatment of seasonal items is in accordance with Commission Regulation (EC) No 330/2009.
The HICP Flash Estimates started being compiled and transmitted to Eurostat on a monthly basis as from January 2017. These refer to tentative HICP indices and are used to provide an insight to users about the annual rates of special aggregates as determined by Eurostat. Eurostat collects data from all European Member States and compiles annual rates of special aggregates for the entire euro area.
Users are advised to consult the NSO before comparing the results of the HICP and the RPI.
More information on the metadata underlying HICP and RPI news releases may be accessed from:
- Sources and methods
- Statistical concepts
- Metadata (HICP)
- Metadata (RPI)
- ECOICOP division classification
- RPI and HICP manual
- Eurostat statistical database
- ECB digital publication on inflation
The euro area mentioned in this release refers to EA11-1999, EA12-2001, EA13-2007, EA15-2008, EA16-2009, EA17- 2011, EA18-2014, EA19-2015, EA20-2023.
6. Weights
The HICP weights for 2024 were compiled using preliminary quarterly consumer expenditure data for 2023 from the NA, complemented with additional data for 2023 from other sources, such as short-term statistics on retail trade and services.
The HICP weights for 2024 show that, compared to the previous year, the divisions to witness the highest increase in weight in absolute terms were Food and non-alcoholic beverages and Restaurants and hotels, while Communication and Alcoholic beverages and tobacco registered the largest decline in weight.
7. Reassessments / revisions
The HICP series is published with base year 2015 according to the latest Eurostat base year revisions as explained in the document which can be accessed through the following link.
Note that the RPI series is published in accordance to the reference base period December 2016.
The data contained in this release is subject to revision. For an updated time-series which includes past data, please refer to the Statistical Indicators for this domain.
8. A detailed news release calendar is available online.
9. References to this news release are to be cited appropriately. For guidance on access and re-use of data please visit our dedicated webpage.
10. For further assistance send your request through our online request form.
- FʼJannar 2024, ir-rata annwali tal-inflazzjoni skont l-Indiċi Armonizzat tal-Prezzijiet għall-Konsumatur (HICP) kienet taʼ 3.7 fil-mija; l-istess bħax-xahar taʼ qabel.
- Ir-rata medja annwali fuq tnax-il xahar għal Jannar 2024 kienet taʼ 5.3 fil-mija.
- L-ogħla impatt pożittiv fuq ir-rata annwali tal-inflazzjoni kien imkejjel fl-Indiċi tal-Ikel u x-xorb mhux alkoħoliku (+1.80 punti perċentwali), mentri l-ogħla impatt negattiv kien irrekordjat fl-Indiċi tal-Komunikazzjoni (-0.38 punti perċentwali).
