Consumer price indices are a comprehensive measure of the change in the price of goods and services typically consumed by households. The pandemic and all the constraints associated with the consumption of several goods and services led to adjustments in the population’s consumption baskets and to sharp changes in the prices of some components.

Inflation results for each of the three consumption groups were fairly close in 2018 and 2019. However, over 2020 estimates pointed to a higher price change for the low consumption group, compared to the high consumption one. In the year as a whole, estimated inflation for the low consumption group was 0.3%, against a 0.0% estimate for the high consumption group. The higher weight of food in the low consumption group, together with the strong acceleration in the price of these goods, largely explains the higher inflation estimate obtained. In the high consumption group, the lower estimate reflects the greater importance of fuel expenditure, with a strong fall in prices in 2020.

For more details, see Box 7 “Inflation estimates by household expenditure quartiles“, published in the Economic Bulletin of Banco de Portugal, May 2021.

Prepared by Cátia Silva. The analyses, opinions and findings expressed above represent the views of the author and not necessarily those of Banco de Portugal or the Eurosystem.

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