1. Workshop on price statistics The Hague – 20th and 21st of June 2013
The user experience with detailed average prices
Luca Protti - DG SANCO – European Commission

2. Pilot project on detailed average prices
Provided by Eurostat in the framework of a pilot project which started in 2009
Data are used within the Consumers Markets Scoreboard
The aim is to asses price divergence and the fragmentation in retail markets

3. Consumer Market Scoreboard (2012 edition)
Market MONITORING SURVEY:
51 consumer markets in EU27 + IS/NO: over 60% of consumption expenditure
Consumers with recent purchasing experience in the market – subset of the general population
Questions: comparability, trust, satisfaction, problems & complaints, choice and switching
Comparisons with 2010 and 2011
Other data:
PRICES: variability of prices across EU countries and link with spending power
COMPLAINTS collected by Member States

4. Data on prices in the Consumer Market Scoreboard. Sources:
Eurostat pilot project on detailed price levels for specific groups of products
Network services: provided to Eurostat by MS (gas, electricity, postal services, fixed telephone) + other Commission reports (cross-border parcel delivery, broadband internet access
Vehicle Fuels: available within the Market Observatory for energy

5. The Eurostat pilot project on detailed average prices
4th year of pilot
Reference period: June 2011
156 products covered, up from 87 of the previous year
27 countries covered (including CH, IS and TR) – up from 25
however several cells (countries*products) are empty

6. Consumer Market Scoreboard – analysis on prices
Data presented by clusters of product categories:
fast-moving retail goods
(semi-)durable goods,
vehicle fuels,
recreational and personal care services
network services (public utilities, transport and telecom)

7. Consumer Market Scoreboard – analysis on prices
In each graph – for each price category:
coefficient of variation for prices across the EU.
the degree of correlation between price levels and actual individual consumption per capita
Rationale: highlight product categories for which consumers in less affluent countries pay (relatively) more.

8. Fast moving consumer goods

9. Semi-durable goods

10. Vehicle fuels

11. Recreational and personal care services

12. Network services

13. Detailed data on prices - open issues
Geographical coverage still to be completed: some countries not providing data or providing them only for some product categories
Comparability of products across countries. To what extent prices also reflect differences in quality?
Overlapping between the markets monitored in the monitoring survey and the product categories for which price data are available
Additional way to analysize the data in the context of consumer policy.
Possible to include the time dimension in the analysis?
Data can be presented/grouped in a different way?

14. Detailed data on prices Additional ways to analyze the data in the context of consume policy
Possible to include the time dimension in the analysis?
Ranking of countries: is it consistent across different products?
Could data be presented/grouped in a different way?
Other ? – suggestions welcomed