Blueberries, hearing aid added to consumer price index

By Yoon Ja-young

Statistics Korea has revised the consumer price index, adding items increasingly consumed while excluding those less popular. As a result, blueberries and hearing aids were added while mackerel and ketchup will not count.

The statistical office announced Friday, the revised version of the consumer price index based on household consumption patterns of 2015. Statistics Korea revises the index every five years, changing items and their weighted value to better reflect reality. The new index, based on the price of 460 items, will be used to calculate changes in consumer prices beginning December.

The new index includes consumer prices in Sejong City and Yongin City to reflect the increasing population while some dwindling cities, such as Namwon and Boryeong, were substituted by bigger cities nearby.

Eighteen items, including blueberries, almonds and electric ranges, were added. Hearing aids also were put on the list, reflecting the aging of society, as well as packaged meals, which is an expanding market because of the rising number of single-person households.

Statistics Korea said average monthly household spending on an item had to be at least 231 won for it to be included in the index, representing 0.01 percent of the average 2.31 million won monthly consumption by urban households last year.

As a result, 10 items, including mackerel and magazines, were excluded. Dictionaries, which had been in the index from 1970, were dropped following increasing use of the Internet. Vaccines were also excluded as the government expanded free vaccination. Ketchup, which had been on the list since 1980, also disappeared, following the launch of diverse sauces in the market.

Changes in indexes reflect each era. For instance, black and white TVs were included in 1970, to be delisted in 1985. Pagers joined the list in 1995, disappearing after only five years with the increasing use of cell phones. In 2010, wired telephones were dropped.

Considering household spending, Statistics Korea also changes the weighted value of each item. Monthly rent and imported passenger vehicles, for instance, were given more weight this time, while petroleum and jeonse, or Korea’s unique home rental system, will count less following revision. To reflect increasing e-commerce, Statistics Korea took into account more online shopping prices for some items such as kimchi refrigerators and shampoo.

According to the revised method, the consumer price index between January and November this year rose 0.9 percent from a year ago, which is 0.1 percentage point lower than the 1 percent rise when applying the 2010 version.