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Communicating the German CPI

This report discusses the challenges and strategies employed by DESTATIS in communicating the German Consumer Price Index (CPI) to a diverse audience. Given the broad range of users and public interest, it emphasizes the need for user-oriented publications and accessible metadata. It addresses gaps between perceived price increases and official inflation rates, highlights new communication tools like the Personal Inflation Calculator, Price Monitor, and Price Kaleidoscope, and emphasizes the importance of intuitive online resources to enhance user understanding and improve the credibility of official statistics.

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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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