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United European Euro
Period States Japan Union area France Germany Italy UK
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2003 2.3 -0.3 2.0 2.1 2.2 1.0 2.8 1.4
2004 2.8 0.0 2.0 2.1 2.3 1.8 2.2 1.3
2005 3.9 -0.4 2.2 2.2 1.9 1.9 2.2 2.0
2006 3.2 0.3 2.2 2.2 1.9 1.8 2.2 2.3
2007 2.6 0.1 2.3 2.1 1.6 2.3 2.1 2.3
2008 4.4 1.6 3.7 3.3 3.2 2.8 3.5 3.6
2009 -0.9 -1.5 1.0 0.3 0.1 0.2 0.7 2.1
I -0.7 -0.1 1.6 1.0 0.7 0.8 1.4 3.0
II -2.1 -1.1 0.9 0.2 -0.2 0.2 0.9 2.1
III -2.5 -2.6 0.4 -0.4 -0.5 -0.4 0.1 1.5
IV 1.9 -2.3 1.0 0.4 0.4 0.3 0.7 2.1
2010 2.5 -0.8 2.0 1.6 1.7 1.1 1.7
I 3.6 -1.4 1.7 1.1 1.5 0.8 1.3 3.3
II 2.8 -1.1 2.0 1.6r 1.8 1.0 1.6 3.4
III 2.0 -0.8 2.1 1.7 1.8 1.2 1.7 3.1
IV 1.7 0.2 2.5r 2.0 1.9 1.6 2.0 3.4
Aug 2.0 -0.9 2.0 1.6 1.6 1.0 1.8 3.1
Sep 1.8 -0.6 2.3r 1.9r 1.8 1.3 1.6 3.0
Oct 1.8 0.3 2.3 1.9 1.8 1.3 2.0 3.1
Nov 1.5 0.2 2.3 1.9 1.8 1.6 1.9 3.2
Dec 1.9 0.1 2.7r 2.2 2.0 1.9 2.1 3.7
2011
Jan 2.0 0.1 2.7p 2.3p 1.9p 2.0 1.9 4.0
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p = provisional.
r = revised.
(1) Data for the European Union refer to the European Index of Consumer Prices (EICP),
the official series published by Eurostat for the European Union (EU). The EICP is the
household expenditure-weighted aggregate of the Harmonized Indexes of Consumer Prices
(HICPs) of the EU member countries. The composition of the EU has changed over the
years. As EU membership expands, data for new member countries are linked to this
moving coverage series. Thus, the EU index changes its geographical coverage according
to the composition of the EU during the period to which the data refer. The EICP for
January 2007 onward is comprised of the following 27 countries: Austria, Belgium,
Bulgaria, Cyprus, the Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany,
Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, the
Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, and the
United Kingdom. For analytical purposes, Eurostat also makes available historical
series covering all the current EU countries.
(2) Data for the euro area refer to the Monetary Union Index of Consumer Prices
(MUICP), the official series published by Eurostat for the EU member countries that
have adopted the euro as the common currency. The MUICP is the household
expenditure-weighted aggregate of the HICPs of the euro area. The composition of the
euro area has changed over the years. As the euro area expands, data for new member
countries are linked to this moving coverage series. Thus, the euro area index changes
its geographical coverage according to the composition of the euro area during the
period to which the data refer. The MUICP for January 2011 onward is comprised of the
following 17 countries: Austria, Belgium, Cyprus, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany,
Greece, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, Malta, the Netherlands, Portugal, Slovakia,
Slovenia, and Spain. For analytical purposes, Eurostat also makes available historical
series covering all the current euro area countries.
NOTE: The percent changes on this table conform, insofar as possible, to the
conceptual basis of the EU's Harmonized Index of Consumer Prices (HICP). The HICP is
the standard price index that EU Member States must produce for comparisons across the
countries and which is used by the European Central Bank for the conduct of monetary
policy in the euro area. The index covers all households in each country and excludes
owner-occupied housing costs. The data for the United States are an "experimental"
Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) series adjusted to the concepts of the EU HICP in
that they are expanded to cover the entire (non-institutional) population and narrowed
to remove owner-occupied housing costs that the HICP excludes from its scope. These
U.S. data are produced outside of regular BLS production systems and, consequently,
with less than full production quality. For more information see "Comparing U.S. and
European inflation: the CPI and the HICP," on the Internet at
http://www.bls.gov/opub/mlr/2006/05/art3full.pdf. The data for Japan on this table
refer to the published "General, excluding imputed rent" CPI which covers households
with two or more persons in the entire country and excludes owner-occupied housing
costs. The data shown on this table for the United States and Japan have not been
otherwise adjusted for comparability. Differences may exist, for example, with
respect to the frequency of market basket weight changes, aggregation methods, and
quality adjustments. For further qualifications and historical data, see
"International Indexes of Consumer Prices, 18 countries and areas, 1996-2009," August
3, 2010. See http://www.bls.gov/ilc/intl_consumer_prices_annual.pdf
SOURCE: For the United States, data are the "experimental" series prepared by BLS; for
Japan, data are published by the Japanese Statistics Bureau; and for the EU Member
States, data are based on the monthly HICP series published by the Statistical Office
of the European Communities (EUROSTAT). The data for the EU are reproduced with
permission from EUROSTAT.