Inflation: Definitions, graphs and data

Definitions

CPI Inflation

A measure of price movements, produced by Statistics Canada and obtained by comparing the retail prices of a representative "shopping basket" of goods and services at two different points in time. Learn more

CPI-trim

CPI-trim is a measure of core inflation that excludes CPI components whose rates of change in a given month are located in the tails of the distribution of price changes. This measure helps filter out extreme price movements that might be caused by factors specific to certain components. In particular, CPI-trim excludes 20 per cent of the weighted monthly price variations at both the bottom and top of the distribution of price changes, and thus it always removes 40 per cent of the total CPI basket. These excluded components can change from month to month, depending on which are extreme at a given time. A good example would be the impact of severe weather on the prices of certain food components. This approach differs from traditional a priori exclusion-based measures (e.g. CPIX), which every month omit a pre-specified list of components from the CPI basket. Learn More

CPI-median

CPI-median is a measure of core inflation corresponding to the price change located at the 50th percentile (in terms of the CPI basket weights) of the distribution of price changes in a given month. This measure helps filter out extreme price movements specific to certain components. This approach is similar to CPI-trim as it eliminates all the weighted monthly price variations at both the bottom and top of the distribution of price changes in any given month, except the price change for the component that is the midpoint of that distribution. Learn More

CPI-common

CPI-common is a measure of core inflation that tracks common price changes across categories in the CPI basket. It uses a statistical procedure called a factor model to detect these common variations, which helps filter out price movements that might be caused by factors specific to certain components. Learn More

Chain price index for GDP

Price index for GDP, equivalent to the ratio of the value to the volume of GDP, with the volume estimated using a chain Fisher formula. Learn more

Chain price index for consumption

Price index for consumption, equivalent to the ratio of the value to the volume of consumption, with the volume estimated using a chain Fisher formula. Learn more

The Bank’s Preferred Measures of Core Inflation

General information from Statistics Canada about CPI-trim, CPI-median and CPI-common.

The Bank’s Preferred Measures of Core Inflation: Methodology

Information from Statistics Canada about how CPI-trim, CPI-median and CPI-common are calculated.