Owner-occupied housing and the harmonised index of consumer prices - Outcome of the work of the European Statistical System - 2023 edition

The harmonised index of consumer prices (HICP) was created in the 1990s to serve as the key comparable measure of consumer inflation for the purpose of policymaking within the EU’s monetary union. From the outset, the costs of households to live in their own home (‘owner-occupied housing’) have been excluded from the coverage of the HICP.

In July 2021, as a result of its monetary policy strategy review, new recommendations were addressed by the ECB to the European Statistical System (ESS) in this regard.

This report reflects the outcome of the work carried out by a dedicated task force of the ESS and of discussions at the ESS Committee in February 2023, as a response to the ECB’s recommendations.