Harmonised Indices of Consumer Prices (HICP) are computed by Member States according to uniform methodology of the European Union. The basis of calculation of HICP for Poland is:

• an observation of changes in prices of representatives of consumer goods and services;
• the weight system based on the structure of individual consumption expenditure in the households sector with national accounts statistics from two years ago.

The grouping of consumer goods and services has been based on the Classification of Individual Consumption by Purpose (in Poland COICOP/HICP until 2013 and ECOICOP from 2014). Harmonized Index of Consumer Prices is calculated in line with the Laspeyres’s formula.

In accordance with inflation criterion included in the Maastricht Treaty, HICP is a base for the price stability assessment. In Poland this index has been computed since 1997. In accordance with the EU regulations, the retrospective data in the scope of HICP may undergo a change as a result of verification connected with the methodology modification.

Links to Eurostat website on HICP (schedule of the publication of HICP data by Eurostat, database, legislation, metadata):

Eurostat website on HICP
Release calendar: Inflation
Database on HICP
Legislation
Metadata

Starting with the January 2016 data, published by Eurostat in February 2016, the reference year of the Harmonised Index of Consumer Prices (HICP) changed. The previous index reference year (2005=100) was replaced with the year 2015 (2015=100). Due to the change of the HICP index reference year, also back data has been recalculated.

The series with the current 2015=100 reference period (tables below) and the past reference periods (2005=100 and 1996=100) are available in Eurostat database.

^a Estimated data

^a Estimated data