In a period of record inflation, data on the development of prices are among the most monitored statistical indicators in Slovakia and Europe. Improving the quality of inflation measurement, innovations in data collection and processing are the main topics of the international meeting of experts in Bratislava.

Experts on creating price statistics from the V4 countries met in Bratislava at an international workshop organized by the Statistical Office of the Slovak Republic. At the meeting, Czech, Polish, Hungarian and Slovak experts deal with the modernization of the collection and processing of data on consumer prices. The workshop focuses on the new approaches to the survey and processing of consumer prices, which enable to provide more accurate and better statistical information on inflation.

“Objective and reliable data on the development of prices are the basis for the creation of state policies, for the decision-making of the private sector, and they are also sensitively perceived by the population. Therefore, within the framework of our Presidency in the V4 group, we have focused our activities in the field of statistics on innovations in their collection and processing," declared Peter Peťko, President of the Statistical Office of the Slovak Republic.

Experts discuss how to obtain and process information on prices of goods taken directly from retail chains as well as data from the online environment. Innovations in real estate price statistics are also part of the discussions. New sources of data and methods of their processing will enable statisticians to capture price changes and consumer behavior much more effectively.

"Innovatively obtained data also require innovative statistical processing. New approaches to the calculation of price indices are necessary. The mutual sharing of experiences between foreign partners will enable their faster introduction into the statistical practice," added Helena Glaser-Opitzová, Director of the Section of General Methodology, Registers and Coordination of the National Statistical System Directorate of the Statistical Office of the SR. 

The pandemic, which significantly changed the consumer behavior of the population and strengthened the position of online sales, also brought a strong impetus for the faster implementation of new methods of processing of consumer prices. The Statistical Office has been dealing with this issue for more than two years, also within the framework of the Dynamic Price Model project, which is co-financed from the European Structural Investment Funds.

Slovakia chairs the V4 countries from July 2022 to the end of June 2023. The international workshop "Modernization of consumer price statistics", which takes place on March 23 and 24, 2023 in Bratislava, is part of the professional program within the statistical activities covered by the Statistical Office of the Slovak Republic. As part of it, a total of three professional workshops will be held and a publication on the topic of inflation will be issued.

More details:

Meeting of the heads of V4 national statistical institutes in Bratislava in November 2022