This dataset contains monthly Comparative Price Levels (CPL) for OECD countries. CPLs are defined as the ratios of PPPs for private final consumption expenditure to exchange rates. They provide measures of differences in price levels between countries. The monthly PPPs used to derive the table are OECD estimates. The table is to be read vertically. Each column shows the number of specified monetary units needed in each of the countries listed to buy the same representative basket of consumer goods and services. In each case the representative basket costs a hundred units in the country whose currency is specified. Let’s take an example. If you are a Canadian citizen and you want to know the price level in Canada when compared to other countries, you have to look at the column Canada, where the price level is set at 100 for the whole column. If you have 120 for Finland, it means that the price level in Finland is 20% higher than in Canada. It means that you would spend 120 dollars in Finland to buy the same basket of goods and services when you spend 100 in Canada.
The monthly PPPs used to derive the table are obtained by extrapolating 2022 PPPs for household final consumption expenditure using the relative rates of inflation between the countries as measured by their consumer price indices. Unless a country is a high inflation country, its PPP will tend to change slowly over time. Month-to-month changes in comparative price levels are more likely to be the result of exchange rate fluctuations.
Updated data are available at the beginning of each month.
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