Press release, 12.01.2024.

Consumer price statistics are also produced in a transparent way, in line with the European statistical directives

HCSO held a press conference on "Inflation updates and the background to the calculations"

Consumer prices were 5.5 percent higher in December 2023 compared to a year earlier, while for the year as a whole they rose by an average of 17.6 percent in 2023. The calculation of inflation is carried out by the Hungarian Central Statistical Office (HCSO) in a transparent manner and in line with European statistical guidelines, HCSO said at a press conference.

In the recent past, HCSO has been the subject of several unfair attacks on its methodology for calculating the consumer price index, which are not based on professional grounds and contain incorrect statements. To help interpret the data and the methodology, the HCSO held a press conference on 12 January 2024, the day of the publication of the December 2023 and 2023 annual inflation data. At the event, Dr. Tímea Cseh, Head of the National Accounts Department of the HCSO, and Imre Gajzágó, expert in the Consumer Prices Section, provided insights into the complex methodology of inflation calculation, presenting current trends, with a special focus on energy price developments, expert expectations and why individual inflation perceptions may differ from official data.

The current methodology for calculating the consumer price index has been in force since August 2022, when the government decrees on the residential prices of gas and electricity were amended [Government Decree 259/2022 (21 July 2022)], and has remained unchanged since then. With the introduction of the new methodology, the HCSO aims to ensure that its price statistics provide an accurate and credible picture in a changing legislative environment.

The experts of the HCSO underlined that Eurostat, the statistical office of the European Union, is in continuous consultation with the statistical offices of all Member States. The methodology used by the HCSO for calculating inflation is in line with the European statistical directives (in particular the European Commission Implementing Regulation 2020/1148 and Eurostat's HICP Methodological Manual). The quality of the HCSO statistics is ensured by internationally consistent, professionally sound methodologies developed using statistical scientific procedures, which are not subject to political or economic expectations.

This is confirmed by a recent Peer Review Report by Eurostat's independent foreign experts, which underlines that the statistics produced by the HCSO are objective, of high quality and reliable.

Hungarian Central Statistical Office

H-1024 Budapest, Keleti Károly u. 5-7. Tel./Phone: (+36-1) 345-6000
Postacím/Postal address: P.O.Box 51 Budapest H-1525
http://www.ksh.hu