Consumer and household price statistics are key for understanding the state of the UK economy and the impact of inflation on people living in the UK. As the regulatory arm of the UK Statistics Authority, we conduct regular regulatory work on economic statistics, to ensure users can continue to have confidence in key economic indicators. This page sets our recent and planned work on consumer and household price statistics.
What are we going to be doing?
Consumer Prices Index (CPI) and Consumer Prices Index including owner occupiers’ housing costs (CPIH).
In July 2017, we re-accredited the CPIH as a National Statistic (now known as Accredited Official Statistics). Since then, the Office for National Statistics (ONS) has embarked on a programme of transformation across its consumer price statistics, aiming to incorporate new data sources, improve its methods and develop systems used in production of these statistics. This transformation includes the planned introduction of grocery scanner data into CPI and CPIH.
ONS has made several changes to its consumer price statistics to date, including incorporating second-hand cars data and changes to private rental statistics for Great Britain. ONS now intends to incorporate grocery scanner data into its consumer price statistics in March 2026.
Recognising the significance of changes being implemented to consumer price statistics and the high-profile use of these statistics, we intend to conduct re-assessments of CPI and CPIH. Our decision to re-assess is not in response to any specific concerns about the quality of CPI or CPIH, but instead to ensure we provide appropriate regulatory oversight for these key statistics following a period of significant development. As part of these re-assessments, we will also consider how ONS communicates the different consumer prices statistics. We provisionally plan to begin re-assessment once grocery scanner data has been incorporated and embedded.
In advance of these re-assessments, in March 2025 we are starting a short review that will focus specifically on ONS’s approach to transforming its consumer price statistics. With this short review we aim to address the following questions:
- Is ONS effectively handling the transformation of consumer price statistics, including engaging with users to understand whether proposed improvements meet their needs and being transparent about what it is doing?
- Is ONS adequately assuring itself and users about the quality of statistics produced using new data and methods?
We would like to speak with users of price statistics as part this work and will be contacting key users that we are aware of in due course. If you would like to provide views for this work, you can contact us on regulation@statistics.gov.uk.
Household Cost Indices (HCIs)
Alongside its transformation of consumer price statistics, ONS has developed the Household Cost Indices (HCIs). These indices aim to reflect inflation as experienced by different types of households. Since December 2023, ONS has published monthly estimates of the HCIs on a quarterly basis. ONS badges these estimates as official statistics in development, reflecting its intention to make further methodological improvements to these statistics.
Recognising significant user interest in the HCIs, we intend to conduct a review of these statistics, aiming to inform further developments and provide direction on steps that might be needed to achieve compliance with the Code of Practice for Statistics. We intend to start this review later in 2025, once ONS has completed its annual weights update for the HCIs for the first time. We will continue to engage with ONS to understand when would be appropriate to carry out a full assessment of these statistics to determine whether they can become accredited official statistics.
We would like to speak with users of price statistics as part this work and will be contacting key users that we are aware of in due course. If you would like to provide views for this work, you can contact us on regulation@statistics.gov.uk.
What have we done so far?
February 2025 – We published our plans for regulatory work on consumer and household prices statistics.
October 2024 – We published a Spotlight on Quality assessment of the Price Index of Private Rents (PIPR). PIPR is used to estimate the owner occupiers’ housing costs element of CPIH. We set out five requirements for ONS to fulfil to improve these statistics.
Correspondence
Ed Humpherson to Mike Keoghan: Spotlight on Quality Assessment: Price Index of Private Rents (PIPR) – 10 October 2024
Notes
This webpage will be updated as our work on consumer and household prices progresses.
We may make changes to the timeline or proposed regulatory work in response to emerging issues or changes to ONS’s plans. If so, we will update this webpage, explaining reasons for any changes.
Contact our regulators for this domain via regulation@statistics.gov.uk