Spain Harmonised Index of Consumer Prices (HICP) m/m

Spain's Harmonised Index of Consumer Prices (HICP) m/m is a statistical indicator which aims to offer a common measure of inflation and thus to enable comparison of month-over-month changes between different countries. The Harmonised Index of Consumer Prices is very similar to the Consumer Price Index in terms of the methodology and implementation. Thus data on the methodology details, statistical process aspects (such as calculation units, type and frequency), as well as publication plan and periodicity can be found in the CPI calculation methodology.

The price data is collected from a survey which is automatically created for each institution. The interviewer marks in the document the prices for goods and services from of the consumer basket, as well as the distribution of these goods and services. Each interviewer visits one place, with the exception of hypermarkets and shopping centers. About 220,000 prices received from the survey are processed on the monthly basis. The prices are further processed in central offices, then indices and corresponding exchange rates are prepared on their basis and are published within the first two weeks of the next month. Similar to most of European Union countries, the prices included in the CPI calculation are selected in a certain predefined manner to exclude the probability factor and to comply with the analyzed population characteristics.

The Harmonised index intends to cover the entire range of goods and services, however the calculation only includes those having the weight of no less than 1/1000 of the entire consumer basket amount. Separate groups of goods and services were added or excluded in different countries to maintain the desired level of comparability.