Market basket

A representative market basket is the compilation of a representative as possible a number of different goods for the determination of the price index and inflation. The price development of goods contained is doing (eg, four years) determined over a period of time with constant weighting of the individual items.

Usually we mean by the cart to which is used for the calculation of the consumer price index (CPI). This takes into account the share of household expenditure for the corresponding categories of goods.

There are also carts for the calculation of price indices such as the producer price index, wholesale price index or construction price index.

In the UK (Consumer price index = CPI ) is also calculated on the basis of a representative basket of goods.

Shopping in Germany

In Germany, the cart, and the overall index of all 12 departments, created for the consumer price index from the Federal Statistical Office and contains about 750 goods ( as of 2004). In February 2003 there was a change in the price index to a new shopping cart with the base year 2000. The new cart and Others disks have been replaced by CD-R, typewriters removed and laser printers and " meals on wheels " is added. A uniform weighting scheme for the whole of Germany introduced, which now no longer takes into account the differences in consumption patterns in East and West separately - In addition, the weighting has been redetermined and - more than ten years after reunification.

In March 2008, the cart was converted to the base year 2005.

The data base for the determination of the consumer price index is created by experiments conducted monthly surveys: lead each mid-month on behalf of the State Statistical Offices around 560 and on behalf of the Federal Statistical Office, a further 15 employees price surveys to the goods and services in the shopping cart by. Prices are requested in approximately 40,000 so-called reporting units (eg, retail stores, service bureau, etc.) that are distributed in 190 communities across the entire country. Overall, the data base consists of approximately 350,000 individual prices together each month.

The weighting scheme, which weights the individual items and prices according to their share of household expenditure is updated every five years in Germany.

Shopping in Austria

In Austria the basket for the consumer price index from Statistics Austria is created. From 1966 to 1996, the basket has been updated every ten years (VPI VPI 66 to 96). Due to requirements of Eurostat, the adjustment of the basket every five years there is now. Currently, the CPI in 2010, the next update will take place in 2015, released the new index series from January 2016. The cart includes, among other cereal products, meat, fish, milk, cheese, eggs, fats, oils, fruits and vegetables, including potatoes.

Shopping in Switzerland

In Switzerland, the Federal Statistical Office leads the country's consumer price index (CPI). The percentage composition of the goods in the basket is updated annually since 2000 by the Income and Expenditure Survey ( EVE) in the individual households. The cart includes not only food, but also all household expenses such as rent, energy costs, etc.

Aspects of the shopping cart model

There are in the cart model various problems that can lead to a deviation of the calculated inflation / inflation.

More power in your basket

Products are improved over time due to the technical progress. Example car: Simply equipped car models vanish from the market. New models have built things that were reserved for the most expensive luxury-class models were 20 years ago: ABS, Airbags, ESP, climate control. Overall price increases through development and progress are to be explained in many areas of life. It is thus observed a famine, partly based on a rise in living standards, increased demands or increased legal requirements.

To account for this effect, the inflation rate is determined in some states with the hedonic method. The inflation rate is thereby reduced by a factor to represent the increase in quality of the products. The cart itself is not being altered.

However, this method has a serious drawback: They do not take into account those consumers who are not dependent on the state of the art and equipped with simple products that are no longer available on the market are now satisfied would. These people have to pay for the new properties with now namely, even though they do not need.

Adjustments of the basket

As the set of consumption habits over time, is to make an adjustment of the basket regularly. This weighting should reflect the actual consumption amounts of the residents.

Different shopping carts for different purposes

For different purposes different shopping carts must be defined. While for the measurement of inflation provide a representative basket is chosen, is often useful for the analysis of causes, working with special baskets. Thus, a core inflation rate is determined to be located in the food and energy prices from the cart.

Consumption patterns differ by age, household size, region and lifestyle. For this reason, determined with the aid of a cart change in the price level does not reflect the individual output situation. Therefore Carts for different household sizes are calculated to measure the effects of inflation for individual population groups.

The perception of control exercised by the citizens will not be affected by the price increases of all goods alike. Changes in prices of frequently purchased goods are perceived more strongly by the buyers. Thus, "perceived inflation" the term originated. To measure this, a cart is used to define the frequently bought goods for daily use weighted higher (eg food ).