The Classification of Individual Consumption According to Purpose (COICOP) is the international reference classification of household expenditure. The objective of COICOP is to provide a framework of homogeneous categories of goods and services, which are considered a function or purpose of household consumption expenditure. As established by Regulation (EU) 2016/792, the Harmonised Index of Consumer Prices (HICP) should be compiled according to COICOP classification categories.
The UN COICOP 2018 is the latest version of Classification of Individual Consumption According to Purpose, endorsed by the United Nations Statistical Commission (UNSD) in March 2018. It replaces the currently used version COICOP 1999. The UN COICOP 2018 publication is available on the UNSD website UNSD — Classifications on economic statistics.
The UN COICOP 2018 reflects significant changes in the nature of goods and services as well as changes in household consumption patterns since the introduction of COICOP 1999. The revision also improves linkages with other classifications and addresses emerging statistical and policy needs identified by various international organisations. Within the EU, for the purposes of the HICP, COICOP 2018 is referred to as European Classification of Individual Consumption According to Purpose version 2 (ECOICOP ver. 2).
The CSO will be adopting ECOICOP ver. 2 as the classification scheme for the Consumer Price Index (CPI) alongside the HICP from January 2026 onwards. The January 2026 HICP and CPI data will be published on 19 February 2026.
ECOICOP ver. 2 is identical to UN COICOP 2018.
As a consequence of the wide-ranging changes in consumer markets in the period following the implementation of the ECOICOP in 2015:
Therefore, a revision of the ECOICOP has become necessary.
ECOICOP ver. 2 addresses the above challenges in several important ways:
The revised COICOP classification – COICOP 2018 – was endorsed by the United Nations Statistical Commission as the internationally accepted standard. The implementation of ECOICOP ver. 2 represents the alignment of the classification used in European statistics with the international standard.
Indicatively, a few of the important differences are as follows:
For more details and a comprehensive discussion of the differences, please refer to the UN COICOP 2018 publication below.
The documentation can be found on Eurostat’s website:
ECOICOP ver. 2 was introduced by Commission Delegated Regulation 2024/3159 that amended Regulation (EU) 2016/792. The new requirements shall apply to the transmission of HICP and HICP-CT data to the Commission (Eurostat) starting with the reference month of January 2026.
The implementation of ECOICOP ver. 2 for past HICP data (1996-2025) is subject to one strict requirement: The all-items HICP should remain the same for any month, country, or European regional aggregate, up to the second decimal.
This will be the same for CPI data (1996-2025) and the All-Items Overall CPI for Ireland will remain the same for any month.
Details on the ECOICOP ver. 2 back series compilation methods can be found in the Ireland's metadate files (Eurostat’s HICP database).
Historical inflation figures for All-Items CPI and HICP will not change.
Users will continue to be able to reproduce the All-Items CPI and HICP and any other aggregate from the published underlying sub-indices and their corresponding weights.
The published CPI and HICP series for January 2026 will fully reflect the changes from the adoption of ECOICOP ver. 2. As the classification structure will follow ECOICOP ver. 2, users will notice changes in the labels of classes, subclasses, etc., as well as in the content of the classification explanatory notes.
The ECOICOP ver. 2 classification will lead to changes in the HICP baskets of countries. For example, with a further disaggregation of fruits more prices need to be collected to make each sub-index representative.
Additionally, a new division will be introduced in the published data: Division 13 - Personal care, social protection and miscellaneous goods and services.
The CPI and HICP indices in January 2026 will be chain-linked to those in ECOICOP ver. 2.
These methods are also described in Chapter 8 of the HICP methodological manual.
There won't be any breaks in either the CPI or HICP series.
In most cases, the classification changes in ECOICOP ver. 2 resulting from splits and aggregations of the ECOICOP subclasses cause the new subclasses to remain part of the same Special Aggregates as in ECOICOP. In a few cases the composition of the main special aggregates may change. These cases concern mostly items with durability, seasonality, and processing characteristics as well as the separation of goods and services.
For the CPI, a key change is how electricity and natural gas are classified. Up to December 2025, the CSO treats electricity and natural gas as a service whereas Eurostat treats them both as a good. The CSO will be changing to treating electricity and natural gas as goods in the CPI and HICP from January 2026 and as a result this will impact the Goods and Services Special Aggregates. These Special Aggregates will be revised back to 1996 in the data published on PxStat.
Any impact of the changeover on the index values of the other Special Aggregates will be published alongside the January 2026 CPI and HICP publication on 19 February 2026.
Information on the updated composition of Special Aggregates in ECOICOP ver. 2 will be available on Eurostat’s website: Methodology - Harmonised Indices of Consumer Prices (HICP) - Eurostat.
Information on the content of Special Aggregates in ECOICOP is available on Eurostat’s portal: Information on data - Harmonised Indices of Consumer Prices (HICP) - Eurostat.
14. Will the rescaling of the HICP to base year 2025=100 take place at the same time as the introduction of ECOICOP ver. 2 in the HICP?
The HICP and HICP-CT indices will be rescaled to 2025=100 in January 2026, at the same time as the introduction of ECOICOP ver. 2.
The new common index reference period for the harmonised indices shall be 2025=100, replacing the previous common index reference period of 2015=100. Member States will apply the new common index reference period for the harmonised indices and sub-indices, including any data revisions, transmitted to the Commission (Eurostat) starting with the index for January 2026 and onwards.
Rescaling from 2015=100 to 2025=100 will not have any impact on the HICP and HICP-CT rates of change.
There will be no rescaling of the CPI.
The rescaling of the HICP, while not affecting inflation rates, significantly enhances the index's readability and interpretability. Changing the index reference period is essentially a straightforward scaling exercise.
It improves usability by aligning the base year to a more recent point in time, which users typically prefer over a distant past date. Users often ascribe more importance and authority to index values around 100, rather than larger numbers.
The rescaling of the HICP will have no effect on the CPI, Ireland's official measure of inflation.
The inclusion of games of chance in the HICP with the January 2026 data represents a noteworthy enhancement in the product coverage of the index. While in many Member States, this category constitutes a significant enough portion of household expenditure to merit inclusion in the HICP, the inclusion is not expected to have a major impact on inflation rates.
Previously, the lack of sufficient methodological harmonisation meant that games of chance were not covered in the HICP. The publication of Eurostat’s Recommendations on the treatment of the games of Chance in the HICP in December 2024 has established the necessary harmonised methodology for their inclusion.
Games of chance will not be included in the CPI from January 2026. It will be included at the next updating of the CPI Basket of Goods and Services alongside the January 2027 CPI release.
The CSO doesn't expect the change in classification to have any impact on the All Items overall CPI and HICP indices for Ireland. There will be changes to the sub-divisions as items in the CPI basket of goods and services have changed division and the creation of a new division specifically for Insurance and Financial Services. A full list of these changes will be published alongside the publication of the January 2026 CPI.
Eurostat assessed the impact of changes on the HICP in autumn 2025 and will communicate the relevant information to users in 2026.
The CPI and HICP data in ECOICOP for the period 1996-2025 will be frozen and remain available as archived data sets on the CSO's PxStat database.
The CSO will publish the first HICP data in ECOICOP ver. 2 with the flash estimate release for the reference month January 2026 on 30 January 2026. The first publication of CPI data in ECOICOP ver. 2 will be on 19 February 2026 with the publication of the CPI and HICP final figures for January 2026.
Eurostat will publish the first HICP data in ECOICOP ver. 2 with the flash estimate release for the reference month January 2026. As usual, the publication will include the HICP news release and the release of HICP data in Eurostat’s public database on 4 February 2026.
Yes. The back series will cover the period from 1996 to 2025.
No, the transition to ECOICOP ver. 2 will not change the CPI/HICP release calendar for the CSO.
More information on the CPI can be found on the CSO's dedicated Consumer Price Index page.
You can refer to the HICP dedicated section (on Eurostat’s website and the HICP data tables in Eurostat’s database). Relevant information can also be found in the HICP methodological manual.