TURKSTAT: Household Consumption Patterns Form the Basis for Determining Inflation Rates

Forex - The Turkish Statistical Institute (TÜİK) stated that a basket was created based on the goods and services most consumed by households in order to determine the inflation rate, and that the products such as ping pong balls and copper rods are not included in the Consumer Price Index (CPI) item basket.

TÜİK noted that the Chairman of the Republican People's Party (CHP), Özgür Özel, provided misleading information to the public by claiming during a television program he attended yesterday that ping pong balls and copper rods are part of the inflation basket.

In the statement, it was emphasized, "Ping pong balls and copper rods are not included in the Consumer Price Index (CPI) item basket, and this statement does not reflect the truth." It continued: "It is evaluated that the CHP Chairman's statements, made several times at different times, aim to create a false perception in society, thus attempting to influence the public with deliberately misleading information, which necessitated a technical clarification."

The Turkish Statistical Institute (TÜİK) calculates and publishes the CPI, as well as all statistics released under the Official Statistics Program, in accordance with international norms and standards, considering the entirety of the European Statistics Application Principles. All details concerning the data collection, processing, and publication processes of CPI are published on the TÜİK website within the framework of the “accessibility and transparency” principles defined in the TÜİK Quality Assurance Framework.

TÜİK forms a basket based on the goods and services most consumed by households to determine the inflation rate. This basket includes staple food items such as bread, milk, eggs, meat, tea, vegetables, and fruits, as well as regular household payments like rent, electricity, natural gas, water, and phone bills.

As of 2024, this basket, consisting of a total of 406 items, also includes all goods and services that occupy a significant place in household consumption expenditures, ranging from cigarettes to gasoline, education to healthcare, and clothing to household goods. The list of goods and services included in the basket used by TÜİK for CPI calculations is transparently published on our website.