Publication Quality Report - Harmonised Index of Consumer Prices

Extract from Quality Report - Harmonised Index of Consumer Prices
The consumer prices recorded are used to calculate the HICP which is in turn used for the calculation of an inflation standard to measure price stability in the economy of the euro area. The HICP serves as a basis for international comparisons of inflation rates. It is aggregated to obtain a consumer price index each for the European Monetary Union, the European Union and also the European Economic Area. The HICP is one of the convergence criteria on which the decision on including a given Member State in the euro area is based.