Examining the accuracy of inflation adjustment and... MESL Working Paper

Issued: February 2021

Summary

This paper examines and quantifies the contribution of multiple factors to the change in cost between the previous iteration of the MESL basket and the reviewed & rebased MESL for 2020, presenting the following:

  • Comparison of the 2020 MESL and pre-review 2019 MESL data adjusted to 2020.
  • Examination of the scale of divergence between adjusted cost and rebased prices, for items which have remained between both iterations of the MESL baskets.
  • Quantify the net cost impact of basket content changes – additions, removals and qualitative changes.