NSI to announce "flash inflation" for the first time on February 3rd: What does it mean and what to expect?

The National Statistical Institute (NSI) will announce on February 3rd for the first time the preliminary assessment of inflation in Bulgaria for January - the so-called "flash inflation". This will provide early information on the pace of inflation before the publication of the final data, announced the chairman of the NSI, Assoc. Prof. Dr. Atanas Atanasov, in an interview for BTA.

What is "flash inflation"? "Flash inflation" is a quick assessment of inflation that is published earlier than standard statistical data. It provides a signal of the overall trend in prices, allowing for earlier monitoring of inflationary processes.

New consumer basket and COICOP classification: Every year, the NSI updates the consumer basket to reflect the actual consumption of households. This year, a new version of the classification of expenses (COICOP) is also being introduced, which will lead to the regrouping of certain goods.

New data from retail chains: The NSI will pilot the inclusion of prices from large retail chains in the calculation of inflation. This will improve the accuracy of the calculations.

The personal inflation calculator: The personal inflation calculator on the NSI website will be adapted to calculate in euros and to correspond to the new COICOP classification.

Achievements of the NSI and the role of Bulgaria in the OECD: The chairman of the NSI, Assoc. Prof. Atanasov, was elected a member of the Bureau of the Committee on Statistics of the OECD, which is a recognition of the quality of Bulgarian statistics and gives Bulgaria the opportunity to influence the determination of international statistical standards.

Upcoming projects: The NSI is working on a Unified Entry Point for submitting annual reports from companies and is expanding the sample for the household budget survey.