The consumer price index measures the average price change of products and services purchased by households over time. This indicator is a generally accepted measure of inflation, indicating the rate of depreciation of money.
Price changes are measured based on a consumer basket made up of products and services having an important role in the purchases of households, following month by month consumer price trends in shops and service-providing units.
Each of the axes of the heptagonal radar chart represents a main group of expenditure:
food,
alcoholic beverages, tobacco,
clothing and footwear,
consumer durable goods,
electricity, gas and other fuels,
other goods, including motor fuels and lubricants,
services.
The consumer price indices of the main groups of expenditure are displayed monthly from January 2000, compared to the base period of the corresponding month of the previous year, so they always show average price changes during the previous twelve months.
Price indices grow towards lighter colours and decrease towards darker colours (the inner part of the chart). The dark dotted line represents prices unchanged over a year.