Kustannusindeksit

Kustannusindeksit are statistical measures that track changes over time in the costs incurred by businesses in producing goods and services. They cover a range of input costs, including labor, materials, energy, and services, and they are distinct from consumer price indices that reflect household purchases.

In Finland, these indices are produced by official statistics agencies such as Statistics Finland and by sectoral organizations. They are used to monitor the development of production costs, to adjust prices and payments under long-term contracts, and to support economic analysis and wage negotiations by providing a reference for changes in costs rather than consumer prices.

Each cost index is built from a basket of cost components and is published with a base year (the base value is typically set to 100 for the series). Series can be general or sector-specific, such as construction costs or industrial input costs. Methodologies may involve weighting, seasonal adjustment, and sometimes chaining of year-on-year changes. Because they measure input costs, they do not directly reflect output prices, margins, or household inflation, and their movements can diverge from consumer price inflation depending on productivity and pricing power.

Usage of cost indices is most informative for comparing cost development over time or between sectors, rather than as stand-alone indicators of affordability. They are important in contractual price adjustment clauses, budget planning, and macroeconomic analysis, providing insight into the dynamics of production costs independent of consumer demand.