March 2017 marks the 20th anniversary of the Harmonised Index of Consumer Prices (HICP). The HICP was designed as a comparable measure of consumer price inflation within the euro area and the EU. Since the very beginning, it has provided high-quality information for economic and monetary policy-making and for European citizens.
In the early years, the most important use of the HICP was for the assessment of price convergence for those Member States aiming to join the euro. After the launch of the euro, the focus changed. Today, the main use of the HICP is for the European Central Bank to monitor price stability.
The HICP is the result of major harmonisation work by Eurostat and Member States within the European Statistical System (ESS). And it keeps developing, as price statistics experts continually address new challenges for the measurement of inflation in a rapidly changing economic environment.
The full HICP data set is published each month according to a pre-announced schedule – in general between 16 and 18 days after the end of the reference month. Each month, Eurostat also publishes an HICP flash estimate for the euro area as a whole. It gives an early indication of what euro area inflation is likely to be. The flash estimate is generally released on the last working day of the reference month.
Inflation in the euro area 1997–2017 as measured by the HICP
20 years of the HICP – Milestones
When | What | Where |
---|---|---|
23 October 1995 | Original HICP regulation | No 2494/95, OJ L 257, 27.10.1995 |
7 March 1997 | Release of the HICP | News release 22/97 |
5 November 2001 | HICP flash estimate for the euro area | News release 113/2001 |
15 October 2009 | HICP at constant tax rates | Annex to the news release 149/2009 |
28 September 2012 | HICP flash estimate for euro area complemented with main components |
News release 137/2012 |
11 May 2016 | New HICP regulation | No 2016/792, OJ L 135 24.5.2016 |
17 October 2016 | HICP sub-indices on more detailed level | Information note |
More information can be found in the dedicated section on HICP.