communicating the german cpi
DESCRIPTION
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 - PowerPoint PPT PresentationTRANSCRIPT
© Statistisches Bundesamt, Devision Prices, Irmtraud Beuerlein
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
Folie 2© 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.
Folie 3© Statistisches Bundesamt, Devision Prices, Irmtraud Beuerlein
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
Folie 4© Statistisches Bundesamt, Devision Prices, Irmtraud Beuerlein
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
Folie 5© Statistisches Bundesamt, Devision Prices, Irmtraud Beuerlein
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
Folie 6© Statistisches Bundesamt, Devision Prices, Irmtraud Beuerlein
New interactive communication tools
Folie 7© Statistisches Bundesamt, Devision Prices, Irmtraud Beuerlein
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
Folie 8© Statistisches Bundesamt, Devision Prices, Irmtraud Beuerlein
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
Folie 9© Statistisches Bundesamt, Devision Prices, Irmtraud Beuerlein
“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
Folie 10
© Statistisches Bundesamt, Devision Prices, Irmtraud Beuerlein
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
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.“
Folie 11
© Statistisches Bundesamt, Devision Prices, Irmtraud Beuerlein
Feedback on the new communication tools
Number of hits on the German website
0
1.000
2.000
3.000
4.000
5.000
6.000
7.000
8.000
9.000
Jan09
Feb09
Mar-09
Apr09
May09
Jun09
Jul09
Aug09
Sep09
Oct09
Nov09
Dec09
Jan10
Feb10
Mar10
Price monitor
Price-Kaleidoskope
Personal InflationCalculator
TOP 10
"Embed this chartinto my website"
Folie 12
© Statistisches Bundesamt, Devision Prices, Irmtraud Beuerlein
Feedback on the new communication tools
Number of hits on the English website
0
200
400
600
800
1000
1200
1400
1600
Jan09
Feb09
Mar-09
Apr09
May09
Jun09
Jul09
Aug09
Sep09
Oct09
Nov09
Dec09
Jan10
Feb10
Mar10
Price monitor
Price-Kaleidoskope
Top 10 (full view)
"Embed this chartinto my website"
Personal inflationcalculator