Inflation and Price Index Measurement Training Course

Participants can specify a price index using recognised standards, classifications and coverage rules.

• ILO Consumer Price Index Manual principles used to specify CPI design
• COICOP 2018 classification mapped to household consumption expenditure
• System of National Accounts 2008 links between CPIs and deflators
• HICP concepts compared with national CPI compilation choices
• Target population, consumption domain, and geographical coverage documented
• Expenditure concept selected for each consumption purpose and index scope
• Index governance, release calendar, and revision policy established

Participants can define price collection procedures and evaluate common quotation-data problems.

• Sampling frames constructed from outlets, products, and transaction sources
• Probability and purposive sampling choices assessed against price index requirements
• Item specifications fixed for brand, quantity, quality, and transaction terms
• Price observations collected from stores, scanners, web sources, and administrative records
• Missing prices treated through carry-forward, imputation, or matched replacements
• Fieldwork controls identify atypical quotes, discounts, and recording errors
• Data validation rules flag unit, currency, and temporal inconsistencies

Participants can derive expenditure weights and calculate elementary price indices.

• Household expenditure survey data converted into COICOP expenditure weights
• National accounts and scanner data assessed as supplementary weight sources
• Weight reference periods aligned with price reference and index periods
• Elementary aggregates defined for homogeneous products and sampled outlets
• Carli, Dutot, and Jevons formulas calculated from price relatives
• Formula bias assessed using price dispersion and substitution behaviour
• Weight updates reconciled with classification changes and consumption shifts

Participants can aggregate price data, rebase an index and explain contributions to inflation.

• Laspeyres, Paasche, and Fisher indices calculated and interpreted
• Fixed-base and chain-linked indices compared for representativity and continuity
• Annual overlap linking preserves series continuity during weight rebasing
• Contribution-to-change analysis decomposes inflation by division, class, and item
• Index points, percentage changes, and annualised rates reported correctly
• Rounding rules and publication precision controlled throughout aggregation
• Spreadsheet audit trail traces quotes through published index results

Participants can select and justify quality-adjustment approaches for changing products.

• Matched-model method isolates price changes for identical product specifications
• Overlap pricing estimates quality differences between outgoing and replacement products
• Option-cost adjustment values measurable feature changes in durable goods
• Hedonic regression separates characteristic values from pure price movement
• Direct comparison, linking, and imputation selected for replacement items
• Seasonal products treated through counter-seasonal weights, imputation, or carry-forward
• New goods introduction assessed for coverage, weights, and quality adjustment

Participants can address price measurement issues for complex goods, services and digital data.

• Sale prices distinguished from ordinary prices using transaction eligibility rules
• Scanner data supports high-frequency prices, quantities, and unit values
• Unit-value bias diagnosed when product mix changes within barcode groups
• Owner-occupied housing approaches compared: rental equivalence, acquisitions, and user cost
• Health, education, insurance, and financial services priced using service concepts
• Regulated tariffs and administered prices incorporated with effective-date controls
• Digital subscriptions and bundled services specified for recurring price collection

Participants can interpret seasonal patterns, revisions and published price-index series responsibly.

• Seasonal adjustment separates recurring calendar patterns from underlying monthly movements
• X-13ARIMA-SEATS outputs interpreted alongside unadjusted consumer price indices
• Monthly, quarterly, and annual inflation rates selected for analytical purpose
• Revisions policy distinguishes preliminary estimates, corrections, and methodological breaks
• Outlier treatment documented without obscuring genuine market price shocks
• Release calendars protect impartiality, confidentiality, and equal public access
• Metadata records methods, coverage, weights, sources, and comparability limitations

Participants can convert nominal values to real terms and apply price indices to indexation decisions.

• Nominal values deflated using appropriate index concepts and reference periods
• Real wages and household purchasing power calculated from earnings and CPI
• Indexation clauses tested for reference month, lag, base, and rounding
• Escalation calculations applied to leases, pensions, procurement, and tariffs
• Real interest rates estimated using expected and realised inflation measures
• Inflation forecasts separated from measured index changes in management reports
• Distributional effects assessed through subgroup expenditure weights and price movements

Participants can review price-index outputs and plan improvements for a workplace application.

• Quality assurance checklist tests coverage, sampling, weights, formulas, and revisions
• Reproducible calculation workbook documents sources, transformations, and validation checks
• Publication tables present index levels, changes, contributions, and metadata
• Stakeholder briefings explain inflation results without overstating causal claims
• Peer review protocol tests calculations, classifications, and methodological decisions
• Price index improvement plan prioritises data gaps, controls, and releases
• Personal application plan assigns workplace price-index actions and evidence