Provision of Household Expenditure Data

The consumer price indices are compiled by weighting together product or item level price data in a way that reflects UK consumer spending patterns. In order to achieve this, detailed consumer spending figures are required at a suitably disaggregated level for lower-level item weights to be constructed without the need for arbitrary decisions.

In order to compile the consumer price indices, information is required on the annual expenditure on different groups of products at multiple and independent stores. This enables the ONS to give each type of shop and product its correct weight or market share in the list of goods and services used to produce the indices. Much of the information is sourced from internal ONS surveys but some additional detailed expenditure information is needed.