Historical CPI weights back to 1970 are now available on our EconData platform to premium enterprise subscribers. As far as we are aware, EconData is only source of these historical weights. Today’s post shows that the most significant shift between the regimes of 1970–2000 and 2008–2019 is the increase in the Miscellaneous Goods and Services category weight. The rise in Miscellaneous Goods and Services can be attributed to the reclassification of certain items, such as insurance, which was previously grouped under this category in the second regime. For instance, health insurance was initially grouped with Health in the first regime (explaining some of the decline in the weight associated with health), whereas transport-related insurance was included under Transport. In the second regime, all insurance items were reclassified under Miscellaneous Goods and Services. It is also worth noting that the decline in the weights associated with all other divisions not specified in the plot reflects a fall in the weights for Education, Restaurants & Hotels, Recreation, and Personal Care, among others.
Compiled by Jan-Hendrik Pretorius
