Question

Suppose that 1983 is the base year for the consumer price index (cpi) and in 2014 the cpi was 220. what does this "220" mean?

Answer 1

CPI refers to a weighted average of the price of a basket of essential goods and services over a period of time in comparison to the same period in the past (base period). The value of '220' means that prices of the goods/services in the aforementioned basket are 120% higher than they were during the base period (1983). The purpose of calculating this metric is to highlight the effect of inflation on the purchasing power of the people within that particular place. Examples of goods and services that are often included in this basket are food, housing transport and healthcare (based on the consumer habits of that particular place.