Consumer and housing prices
Background information
Price statistics provide important information on how an economy is performing. They are widely used by individuals, the government, businesses, and academics. The development of prices has also broader macroeconomic implications. Therefore, it is essential to have access to comparable, timely and frequent statistics on changes in goods, services, and residential property prices.
Information in the database
The following topics are covered:
Consumer prices
Harmonised indices of consumer prices (HICP) measure the changes over time in the prices of consumer goods and services acquired by households.
The euro area HICP provides the official target indicator for the European Central Bank’s (ECB) monetary policy. The ECB has defined price stability as an annual rate of increase of the HICP of below, but close to, 2% over the medium term. HICP are also used to assess inflation convergence.
HICP are broken down by category of consumption expenditure based on the ECOICOP-HICP classification. Inflation rates are calculated on a monthly and annual basis. Data presented are non seasonally adjusted. Seasonally adjusted data can be found on the ECB website.
House prices
The house price index (HPI) measures the price changes of all residential properties purchased by households (flats, detached houses, terraced houses, etc.). The properties can be newly built or existing, regardless of their final use or previous owners. The price of dwellings follows a gross acquisition concept, i.e. it includes the land price component.
The HPI is available at quarterly and annual frequency. Data presented are non seasonally adjusted.