Árindexen

Árindexen is a Hungarian term that translates to "price index" in English. It is a statistical measure used to track the average change in prices of a basket of goods and services over time. Price indexes are crucial tools for understanding inflation and deflation, which are the general increase or decrease in the prices of goods and services in an economy.

Various types of price indexes exist, each designed to measure price changes in specific sectors or for particular groups of consumers. The most common ones include the Consumer Price Index (CPI), which measures the average change over time in the prices paid by urban consumers for a market basket of consumer goods and services; the Producer Price Index (PPI), which measures the average change over time in the selling prices received by domestic producers for their output; and the Harmonised Index of Consumer Prices (HICP), which is used across the European Union to ensure comparability of inflation rates.

Price indexes are calculated by selecting a representative sample of goods and services and tracking their prices over a defined period. The base period is assigned a value of 100, and subsequent periods are compared to this base. An árindex of 110, for example, would indicate a 10% increase in prices since the base period. These indexes are widely used by governments, central banks, businesses, and individuals for economic forecasting, policy-making, and adjusting wages and benefits. They provide a valuable snapshot of the economic health and purchasing power within a country.