Shopping behaviour of Icelandic households has changed in the past months due to new outlets. Statistics Iceland will evaluate the impact on the consumer price index and if there is a reason to change the index, this will be reflected in the consumer price index in December 2017.

In order to evaluate changes in consumer behaviour, extensive information on prices and volumes of consumption is needed. In general, changes in consumption behaviour occur gradually as is reflected in results from the Household Expenditure Survey. Participants in the survey provide Statistics Iceland with important data on where goods are bought by providing receipts from the stores they use. Statistics Iceland revaluates weights for individual shops based on this information, as a part of the annual rebasing process and integrates the effect of consumer substitution into the CPI if appropriate.

To evaluate changes in household shopping behaviour more frequently, similar information is needed. Statistics Iceland will seek new data sources and develop methods for this purpose. Results and methods will be publicly disclosed.