It is a relative number to measure the price level of a representative group of consumer goods and services that changes with time in a specific period, and is used to reflect the changes in the price level of consumer goods and services purchased by households.
Consumer price statistics survey the final price of social products and services, which is closely related to people's lives and occupies an important position in the whole national economic price system.
It is an important indicator of economic analysis and decision-making, monitoring and regulation of the overall price level and national economic accounting. Its change rate reflects the degree of inflation or deflation to some extent. Generally speaking, inflation is considered to occur when prices rise in an all-round way, in contrast to changes, and it continues.
CPI is an important macroeconomic indicator reflecting the changes in the price level of consumer goods and services related to residents' lives, and it is also an important indicator for macroeconomic analysis and decision-making and national economic accounting.
Generally speaking, the level of CPI directly affects the introduction and intensity of national macro-control measures, such as whether the central bank adjusts interest rates and deposit reserve ratio. At the same time, the level of CPI also indirectly affects the changes of capital markets (such as stock market, futures market, capital market and financial market).
The purpose of compiling consumer price index is to understand the basic situation of price changes all over the country, analyze and study the impact of price changes on social economy and residents' life, meet the needs of governments at all levels to formulate policies and plans and carry out macro-control, and provide reference and basis for national economic accounting.
The combination of consumer price index (CPI) and employment situation report (non-agricultural) has become another hot economic indicator that has been carefully studied in the financial market.
Because inflation affects everyone, it determines the cost of consumers to buy goods and services, affects the operating costs of enterprises, greatly damages the investment of individuals or enterprises, and affects the quality of life of retirees. Moreover, the prospect of inflation is conducive to the establishment of labor contracts and the formulation of government fiscal policies.
Consumer price index measures the average change of retail prices of more than 200 kinds of goods and services over a period of time. These more than 200 kinds of goods and services are divided into 8 categories.
When calculating the consumer price index, each category has a weight that can show its importance. These weights are determined by investigating the products and services purchased by thousands of families and individuals. The weights are revised every two years to make them conform to people's changing preferences.
Extended data:
Basic functions of CPI
1, which measures inflation (deflation). CPI is an important indicator to measure inflation. Inflation is a general and sustained rise in the price level. The level of CPI can explain the severity of inflation to some extent;
2. National economic accounting. In national economic accounting, various price indexes are needed. Such as consumer price index (CPI), producer price index (PPI) and GDP deflator, to calculate GDP, thus eliminating the influence of price factors.
3. Contract indexation adjustment. For example, in salary negotiation, employees hope that the salary (nominal) increase is equal to or higher than CPI, and they hope that the nominal salary will be automatically adjusted with the increase of CPI. The timing of adjustment is usually after inflation and lower than the actual inflation rate.
4. Reflect the change of currency purchasing power: Currency purchasing power refers to the quantity of consumer goods and services that can be purchased by unit currency. When the consumer price index rises, the purchasing power of money decreases; On the contrary, it will rise. The reciprocal of the consumer price index is the purchasing power index of money.
5. Reflect the impact on employees' real wages: the increase of consumer price index means the decrease of real wages, and the decrease of consumer price index means the increase of real wages. Therefore, the consumer price index can be used to convert nominal wages into real wages.
6. the impact of 6.CPI on the stock market: under normal circumstances, prices rise and stock prices rise; As the price falls, so does the share price.
Baidu Encyclopedia-Consumer Price Index