According to data from the National Bureau of Statistics, the national consumer price (CPI) in the first half of 2022 rose 1.7% compared with the same period last year, and 2.8% year-on-year in September. Why is the year-on-year increase of CPI not large, but in reality, people feel that prices are very high?
This is mainly related to the composition of CPI and the weights of each part. China's CPI composition includes food (accounting for 34%), entertainment, education and cultural supplies and services (accounting for 14%), residence (accounting for 13%), transportation and communication (accounting for 10%), personal health care products (accounting for 10%), clothing (accounting for 9%), home equipment and maintenance services (accounting for 6%), tobacco, alcohol and supplies (accounting for 4%).
In the CPI composition, the food is most relevant to people's daily experience. Among the foods, grain accounts for 33.23%, meat accounts for 25.5%, vegetables accounts for 11.53%, aquatic products accounts for 9.51%, fruits accounts for 6.91%, sugar accounts for 4.3%, fat accounts for 2.55%, and eggs accounts for 1.34%. From the food composition, it can be seen that people feel that meat, vegetables and eggs are very high, and the sum of these three accounts for only 48.37%, less than half of the food category. In the entire CPI, the proportion of the three accounts for only 16%, which is very low.
It is precisely because of the low proportion of meat, vegetables and eggs in CPI foods and foods that make people feel that although the CPI has not increased much, the prices are very high.
