The consumer price index (CPI) fell by 0.2 % in January 2020 compared with the previous month, reaching 101.5 points (December 2015 = 100). Inflation was +0.2 % compared with the same month of the previous year. These are the results of the Federal Statistical Office (FSO).
The decrease of 0.2 % compared with the previous month can be explained by several factors including falling prices for clothing and footwear due to seasonal sales. The prices for medicines and international package holidays also declined. In contrast, prices for hotel accommodation and cars increased.
New weighting of the basket of goods and services
To take into account trends in household consumer behaviour, the weighting of the basket of goods and services has been updated every year since 2001.
The weighting of the CPI basket is based on the results of the annual Household Budget Survey (HBS). This covers a random sample of 3000 private households drawn from the FSO random sample register for surveys on individuals and households whose expenditure is surveyed in detail and extrapolated to obtain the average structure of expenditure. For areas in which the HBS does not provide sufficiently detailed information, other sources of data such as professional statistics and market surveys are used. The new weights of the 2020 basket were calculated from the results of the 2018 HBS.
More detailed information can be found in FSO News which can be downloaded from the following address: www.CPI.bfs.admin.ch
Harmonised Index of Consumer Prices (HICP)
In January 2020, the Swiss Harmonised Index of Consumer Prices (HICP) stood at 100.80 points (base 2015=100). This corresponds to a rate of change of 0.4 % compared with the previous month and of +0.2 % compared with the same month the previous year.
The HICP is a supplementary indicator for inflation based on a harmonised method across EU member countries. It enables inflation in Switzerland to be compared with that of European countries.
The European Statistical Office, Eurostat, publishes the results according to a predefined calendar. The FSO publishes a comparison between inflation in Switzerland and Europe on the webpage www.ipch.bfs.admin.ch A methodological note, the 2020 weighting of the Swiss standard HICP basket and the FSO News publication on the HICP are also available on this page. Eurostat will publish the HICP indices for other European countries for January 2020 on February 21, 2020. You will find the HICP results on the Eurostat website at the following address: https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/web/hicp
