Glossary

The Harmonized Index of Consumer Prices (HICP) is an indicator that aims to measure the evolution over time of the prices of a basket of goods and services considered representative of the consumption structure of the population in a given country. It differs from the Consumer Price Index (CPI) mainly in the scope of population coverage, since the HICP is based on the structure of expenditure in the national territory including non-residents ("tourists"). The methodology for calculating the HICP is identical to that of the CPI, but with a different weighting of each expenditure class in each index. For example, the class "Restaurants and hotels" has a lower weight in the CPI than in the HICP, while the class "Food products and non-alcoholic beverages" has a higher weight.