Groceries and Housing
Groceries and housing costs often anchor the CPI basket because households encounter them every month.
Methodology
CPI methodology, across 8 major economies
Understand the inflation metrics and GDP indicators that define our global data hub. Click here to browse data across all 8 featured countries.
Data SourcesAccess our full data disclosuresIndicator guide
What Is CPI?
The Consumer Price Index tracks changes in a representative basket of goods and services purchased by households.
Transport and Healthcare
Transport and healthcare prices can move differently from food or shelter, which is why category weights matter.
Releases arrive with lag
Official CPI releases can trail the current month and may be revised, so charts should be read as public release histories.
Interpretation
Why Does CPI Matter?
Inflation changes real income
When prices rise faster than wages, the same income buys less food, housing, transport and services.
Central banks react to CPI
Rate decisions, credit conditions and market expectations often hinge on whether inflation is cooling or broadening.
GDP and commodities explain the path
GDP helps separate demand pressure from supply shocks; commodity and food indexes show upstream stress.
Process
How Is CPI Measured?
Define the basket
Statistical agencies select a representative mix of goods and services based on household spending patterns.
Collect prices
Prices are gathered from retailers, service providers and official surveys on a regular publication schedule.
Apply weights
Each category receives a weight so essential or high-spend items influence the index appropriately.
Publish the change
The index is compared with prior periods, producing monthly, annual and long-window inflation readings.
History
Historical Trends
Inflationary cycles are shaped by energy shocks, monetary policy shifts, supply-chain disruption and recovery periods.
Oil Crisis
Energy supply shocks pushed transport, production and household costs higher across many economies.
Volcker Shock
Aggressive interest-rate hikes showed how monetary policy can break persistent inflation at the cost of growth.
Financial Crisis
A global demand shock created temporary deflationary pressure and changed the policy backdrop.
Supply Shock
Post-pandemic demand met logistics breaks, food disruption and energy volatility.
Source map
Country series used across the site
Source identifiers stay visible so each country page can be audited and later connected to server-side live FRED data.
United StatesCPI CPIAUCSLGDP GDP3.4% CPIGermanyCPI DEUCPIALLMINMEIGDP CPMNACSCAB1GQDE2.2% CPIUnited KingdomCPI GBRCPIALLMINMEIGDP CPMNACSCAB1GQGB2.8% CPIJapanCPI JPNCPIALLMINMEIGDP JPNRGDPC2.7% CPIFranceCPI FRACPIALLMINMEIGDP FRAGDPNQDSMEI2.1% CPIChinaCPI CHNCPIALLMINMEIGDP GDPCA0.4% CPIIndiaCPI INDCPIALLMINMEIGDP INDNGDP4.9% CPIEuro AreaCPI CP0000EZCCM086NESTGDP NAEXCP01EZQ189S2.3% CPI
Disclosures
Live-data boundary
FRED API keys and internal source domains should remain server-side. The current client reads a public mock cache shaped to match future source replacement.
| Country | CPI latest | GDP latest | Frequency |
|---|---|---|---|
| United States | 3.4% / 2026-03 | 29.18T / 2026 Q1 | Monthly CPI, quarterly GDP where available |
| Germany | 2.2% / 2026-03 | 4.55T / 2026 Q1 | Monthly CPI, quarterly GDP where available |
| United Kingdom | 2.8% / 2026-03 | 3.66T / 2026 Q1 | Monthly CPI, quarterly GDP where available |
| Japan | 2.7% / 2026-03 | 560.4T / 2026 Q1 | Monthly CPI, quarterly GDP where available |
| France | 2.1% / 2026-03 | 3.22T / 2026 Q1 | Monthly CPI, quarterly GDP where available |
| China | 0.4% / 2026-03 | 19.89T / 2026 Q1 | Monthly CPI, quarterly GDP where available |
| India | 4.9% / 2026-03 | 4.19T / 2026 Q1 | Monthly CPI, quarterly GDP where available |
| Euro Area | 2.3% / 2026-03 | 16.89T / 2026 Q1 | Monthly CPI, quarterly GDP where available |