Workshop on price statistics The Hague – 20th and 21st of June 2013 The user experience with detailed average prices Luca Protti - DG SANCO – European Commission

Pilot project on detailed average prices Provided by Eurostat in the framework of a pilot project which started in 2009 Data are used within the Consumers Markets Scoreboard The aim is to asses price divergence and the fragmentation in retail markets

Consumer Market Scoreboard (2012 edition) Market MONITORING SURVEY: 51 consumer markets in EU27 + IS/NO: over 60% of consumption expenditure Consumers with recent purchasing experience in the market – subset of the general population Questions: comparability, trust, satisfaction, problems & complaints, choice and switching Comparisons with 2010 and 2011 Other data: PRICES: variability of prices across EU countries and link with spending power COMPLAINTS collected by Member States

Data on prices in the Consumer Market Scoreboard. Sources: Eurostat pilot project on detailed price levels for specific groups of products Network services: provided to Eurostat by MS (gas, electricity, postal services, fixed telephone) + other Commission reports (cross-border parcel delivery, broadband internet access Vehicle Fuels: available within the Market Observatory for energy

The Eurostat pilot project on detailed average prices 4th year of pilot Reference period: June 2011 156 products covered, up from 87 of the previous year 27 countries covered (including CH, IS and TR) – up from 25 however several cells (countries*products) are empty

Consumer Market Scoreboard – analysis on prices Data presented by clusters of product categories: fast-moving retail goods (semi-)durable goods, vehicle fuels, recreational and personal care services network services (public utilities, transport and telecom)

Consumer Market Scoreboard – analysis on prices In each graph – for each price category: coefficient of variation for prices across the EU. the degree of correlation between price levels and actual individual consumption per capita Rationale: highlight product categories for which consumers in less affluent countries pay (relatively) more.

Fast moving consumer goods

Semi-durable goods

Vehicle fuels

Recreational and personal care services

Network services

Detailed data on prices - open issues Geographical coverage still to be completed: some countries not providing data or providing them only for some product categories Comparability of products across countries. To what extent prices also reflect differences in quality? Overlapping between the markets monitored in the monitoring survey and the product categories for which price data are available Additional way to analysize the data in the context of consumer policy. Possible to include the time dimension in the analysis? Data can be presented/grouped in a different way?

Detailed data on prices Additional ways to analyze the data in the context of consume policy Possible to include the time dimension in the analysis? Ranking of countries: is it consistent across different products? Could data be presented/grouped in a different way? Other ? – suggestions welcomed