The development of our Household Costs Indices (HCIs) is a priority within our range of consumer price inflation measures. The HCIs aim to reflect changing prices and costs as experienced by different household groups. They complement our other measures of consumer price inflation, including Consumer Prices Index including owner occupiers' housing costs (CPIH) and Consumer Prices Index (CPI).
Their development has not been straightforward. For a number of years, our Advisory Panels for Consumer Prices (APCPs) have discussed the HCIs conceptual framework, methods to be developed, and the types of household spending that should be included.
The fourth preliminary estimates of the Household Costs Indices were published in May 2022. We are committed to developing and delivering the HCIs as a quarterly measure in the future. With the current sharp rise in the cost of living and an increased stakeholder need for more timely estimates, we will develop a sustainable system to produce the existing HCIs on a quarterly basis in 2023. In the interim, the CPIH-consistent inflation rate estimates for UK household groups will continue to be published quarterly to provide insight into changing prices and costs for different household groups.
We continue to refine the methods of the HCIs and will be consulting on our workplan for these over the coming months.
We continue to aim to seek National Statistics status for the HCIs. We will update the development plans of the HCIs and timeline for the path to National Statistics status in due course.
Once our work on the HCIs has been completed, we will consider development options for other versions of HCIs that may be of use to users such as the HCI-Capital (HCIC) variant.
Throughout the above plan, the Office for National Statistics (ONS) will continue to work closely with users and the Advisory Panels on Consumer Prices.
Mike Hardie and Matt Corder
Deputy Director, Prices Transformation and Deputy Director, Prices
Previous statement of intent: National Statistician's statement on the future of the Household Costs Indices - Office for National Statistics (ons.gov.uk)