bullet in hand, 200 employees National Statistical Institute (offline) go to every month same establishment distributed throughout the national territory to be able to track The evolution of prices in Spain And, based on this information and other information that the agency collects directly from certain companies, they prepare a consumer price index (Indian Penal Code), which is now the main economic concern of the country.

Indian Penal Code is a key indicator of inflation In the country and, since the summer of last year, it has been growing steadily, an increase in access not seen since the 1980s. so far this year, 8% growth on average and stands as the main challenger to the country’s economic recovery. For this reason, every month, all eyes are on INE publications, which will confirm this Friday that the data it advanced for April (an increase of 8.4%) was correct.

It measures the price evolution of the index. 955 items that spanish We consume on a daily basis: From food and beverages to our shopping carts, to clothing and shoes, through to the many other expenses associated with accommodation, professional services, accommodation or transportation.

All these items are charged from the cost of two different ways: Through Officers’ physical campaigns to store – a traditional way by which they track the price of 462 items – or “through”scanner data“, which includes businesses sharing their updated price database directly with INE, for a total of 493 products.

Overall, INE receives monthly price information that is already computerized Slow three companies dedicated to mass consumption -Suppliers of packaged food, beverages, cleaning and maintenance products for the home, parapharmacy products, food and products for pets and personal care items- although it is studying the progressive incorporation of information from more surfaces. It can share this information with small businesses and other types of establishments—professional services (legal, funeral, banking, etc.), jewelry, electrical appliances, hairdressers, housing services, hospitality, education, leisure, etc.

,they always visit the same establishments, The selected points of sale are Most representative of each municipality (usually with the largest influx of people). It is necessary to visit similar establishments and collect the prices same item So that variation in CPI reflects variation in prices, and is not due to changes in products across installations or in samples,” INE sources explain to EL Mundo.

Select each province most consumed products, For example, the most commonly consumed milk and products in that province are weighed based on data collected in the Family Budget Survey. prices Employees record on their laptop or tablet Dispatched to INE Headquarters in real time.

CPI is one of them most expensive figures to institute, along with the Active Population Survey (EPA), since both collect individual data by province, When in reality prices usually don’t fluctuate much differently from one province to another. Collecting data by communities would, sources familiar with the procedures, say, be “simple and cheap”, although this is being done province by province to give continuity to the process used since the 1970s.

Introduce free market energy prices

Although the two main lines of its work are outlined, INE pick up online too The price of some very specific products or services, such as tourism: Hotel & Travel Packages, “Each sector of the economy has a different casuistry, so the IEE works to improve the systems for obtaining information on a sustainable basis, studying each sector independently to decide how to address the improvement. ,” they tell.

Tracks the price of the institution 955 products But when you publish the information you aggregate it 199 subcategories They allow to know how the price of products such as rice, frozen fish, cheese, ice cream, soft drinks, bedding, kitchen utensils, dental services, domestic flights, mobile phone equipment and a long list fluctuate. it happens.

The products whose price is measured by INE change over the years, as the shopping cart of the 1950s is not the same as the present. In the last update, which coincided with the 2021 base change, INE introduced New products like masks and subscriptions to online newspapersWhile removing others such as image players, portable players, compact discs and DVDs.

depending on the current load, Food and beverages account for 22.6% by weight in the total consumption basket; housing expenses, 14.2%; hotels, cafes and restaurants, 13%; transport, another 13%; Leisure and Culture, 6.4%; clothing and footwear, 6%; message, 5.8%; drug, 4.4%; communication, 3.6%; alcoholic beverages and tobacco, 3.1%; and teaching, 1.3%.

The price of development of CPI in recent months has been determined by the development of energy and, in particular, of Lightning, The problem is that as of today INE does not include information about Liberalized market price in CPI. Had this been done, the average CPI for 2021 would have been 2.2% (instead of 3.1%), as calculated by Caxabank Research, and the CPI for December last year would have been 4.7% instead of 6.5%, which suggests that the IPC would need to have its own The structure can be inflated.

Presently, the institute is Collecting information from power companiesBut being able to implement the methodology required by the CPI would require sufficient detail and the necessary technical parameters.

,We are getting data from power companies. we have to work with them and check that they conform to the functional requirements of the CPI. The difficulties lie in the fact that the CPI methodology requires information that companies do not have immediately, so both parties have to work to concretely determine the content of the information required by the INE”. They explain this medium, the medium.

In this regard the first Vice President Dr. Nadia Calvio, recently accused “an electric company” of obstructing the work of the Institute. “IPC has more weight than gas price, to be able to optimize IPC and that really reflects the price of electricity We need data from power companies, we have spent months trying to get that detailed data , There is a company that has not given data“, he complained in the statements given to RNE.