Infographic 1
Average Prices versus Consumer Price Index

Infographic description

The title of the infographic is "Average Prices versus Consumer Price Index"

This is a table comparing differences between average prices and the Consumer Price Index based on three characteristics.

The first characteristic is type of measure.

Consumer Price Index: Pure price change over time (inflation).

Average prices: Price levels in a given month.

The second characteristic is method.

Consumer Price Index: A fixed basket of consumer goods containing products of unchanging or equivalent quantity and quality from one month to another. Basket weights are updated annually based on most recent household expenditure data.

Average prices: A selection of products which may be subject to changing quality, brand and location based on consumer preferences from one month to another. Weights change on a monthly basis based on the retailer's share of total units sold for a product.

The third characteristic is uses.

Consumer Price Index: Compare prices over time. For example, the index value for fresh or frozen chicken was 192.5 in October 2021 and 204.1 in October 2022. The year-over-year percentage change in October 2022 was 6.0%.

Average prices: Compare price levels of different products in the same month. For example, in October 2022, the average price for whole chicken, chicken breast and chicken thigh was $5.94, $13.92, and $11.58 per kilogram, respectively.

Source(s): Tables 18-10-0004-01 and 18-10-0245-01.