GKI: How does the residential energy price calculation affect the entire consumer price index?

By: Trademagazin Date: 2023. 12. 19. 13:02

In September 2022, KSH found an “innovative” solution for measuring the changed residential energy expenditure. While in the case of the other representatives (986 products and services), the price index is added to the consumer basket with the consumption weight of the previous (or previous) year, and thus the average price index is calculated, for some energy products (natural gas and electricity prices) according to the KSH, there was no way.

Indeed, the specified calculation principle (actually the amount paid in the given month) partly contains a change in the price index, but partly a quantitative change (this has already been pointed out by several former managers and researchers of the KSH). This means that when the decrease in the consumed quantity affects the more expensive product (above the discounted quantity according to the utility reduction), it will also reduce the price index (in order to avoid such a distortion, KSH calculates a constant weight for the other products for 1 calendar year) . The consequence of the calculation is that in the case of residential electric energy and natural gas products with unchanged prices in reality, the CSO shows a price decrease.