INTRODUCTION
Prices are a key factor in the operation of an economy. Price indexes, which provide summary measures of the movements in various categories of prices, are used extensively to analyse and monitor price behaviour and to adjust government payments such as pensions.
This chapter provides an outline of the consumer price index (a measure of price inflation for the household sector), living costs indexes for selected household types, the major producer price indexes and the international trade price indexes, their history and their underlying concepts and methodology.
Another major price index produced by the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS), the labour price index, is described in the Labour chapter, while established house and project home price indexes are described in the Housing chapter.
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