CONSUMER PRICE INDEX (Syllabus: GS Paper 3 – Economy)

Context: Recently, the National Statistical Office (NSO), Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation (MoSPI) has released All India Consumer Price Index (CPI) on Base 2012=100.

Consumer Price Index (CPI)

• About: It measures price changes from the perspective of a retail buyer.
• Base Year: 2012
• Released by: National Statistical Office (NSO)
• CPI Formula: CPI = (Total cost of basket of goods and services in the current period / Total cost of basket of goods and services in the base period) x 100
• CPI is calculated For a fixed list of items including food, housing, apparel, transportation, electronics, medical care, education, etc.
• Types of CPI: CPI for Industrial Workers (IW), CPI for Agricultural Labourers (AL), CPI for Rural Labourers (RL) and CPI for Urban Non-Manual Employees (UNME).
• The Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) uses CPI data to control inflation.