India Updates Consumer Price Index Base Year to 2024 to Reflect Modern Consumption Patterns
India has updated its Consumer Price Index (CPI) base year from 2012 to 2024, utilizing the latest Household Consumption Expenditure Survey of 2023-24. This revision is crucial as it reflects significant changes in the economy, including urbanization, digital platform growth, and diversified spending habits. The new 2024 series adjusts the weightage of various goods and services, giving more importance to items where households now spend more and less to those with a smaller share of spending. This ensures that CPI remains a reliable measure of inflation, guiding the Reserve Bank of India's monetary policy.
Key Points
- The CPI base year has been shifted from 2012 to 2024 to better capture current cost-of-living realities.
- The revision incorporates data from the Household Consumption Expenditure Survey (HCES) 2023-24.
- New weights reflect increased spending on services like telecom and airfares, while reducing the relative weight of traditional essentials.
- The 2024 framework introduces digital data collection and captures online prices for various items.
Exam Facts
- Previous base year: 2012; New base year: 2024.
- Implementing Agency: Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation (MoSPI).
- Data Source: Household Consumption Expenditure Survey 2023-24.
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