Transcript 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 © Statistisches.

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
© Statistisches Bundesamt, Devision Prices, Irmtraud Beuerlein
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.
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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
© Statistisches Bundesamt, Devision Prices, Irmtraud Beuerlein
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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
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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
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New interactive communication tools
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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/E
N/Graphics/SVG/IndexrechnerSVG,templateId=renderSVG.psml
© Statistisches Bundesamt, Devision Prices, Irmtraud Beuerlein
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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
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“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=renderLar
ge.psml
© Statistisches Bundesamt, Devision Prices, Irmtraud Beuerlein
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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
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.“
http://www.destatis.de/jetspeed/portal/cms/Sites/destatis/Internet/EN/Graphics/SVG/PriceKaleidoscope,templateId=renderSVG.psml
© Statistisches Bundesamt, Devision Prices, Irmtraud Beuerlein
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Feedback on the new communication tools
Number of hits on the German website
Price monitor
9.000
8.000
PriceKaleidoskope
7.000
6.000
Personal Inflation
Calculator
5.000
4.000
3.000
TOP 10
2.000
1.000
0
Jan Feb Mar- Apr May Jun
09 09 09 09 09 09
Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Jan Feb Mar
09 09 09 09 09 09 10 10 10
© Statistisches Bundesamt, Devision Prices, Irmtraud Beuerlein
"Embed this chart
into my website"
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Feedback on the new communication tools
Number of hits on the English website
Price monitor
1600
1400
PriceKaleidoskope
1200
1000
Top 10 (full view)
800
600
"Embed this chart
into my website"
400
200
0
Jan Feb Mar- Apr May Jun
09 09 09 09 09 09
Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Jan Feb Mar
09 09 09 09 09 09 10 10 10
© Statistisches Bundesamt, Devision Prices, Irmtraud Beuerlein
Personal inflation
calculator
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