Difference between perceived inflation and actual inflation

Difference between perceived inflation and actual inflation

Key Point

Statistics on wages (and perhaps incomes) should be broken down into at least quintiles, in order to gauge the impact of wage policy on price stability more clearly.

The European Commission and/or the European Central Bank should publish figures at least once a year on the impact of inflation on household purchasing power by level of income.

Europe's islands should all have statistical services and a price index at local level to allow for objective measurement of the additional costs imposed by their island status.

The European Commission should examine the simultaneous trend in the indices of consumer prices, production prices and import prices, because it is surprising that the import prices of certain indicators have fallen sharply but this has not been felt by the final consumer.

The Committee wonders whether it would be possible to publish the data on private household consumption a little faster.

The EESC recommends supporting the public institutions and NGOs which provide information for consumers and help them to make choices that are becoming increasingly difficult.