Page 170 - Special Topic Session (STS) - Volume 3

STS538 Pedro Luis do N. S. et al.

Challenges and opportunities for cost of living
measurement in the Big Data era – Perspectives
from Brazil
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Pedro Luis do Nascimento Silva , Vladimir Gonçalves Miranda
Instituto Brasileiro de Geografia e Estatística - IBGE, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

Abstract
The so-called ‘big data era’ is a time of substantial change to the data
landscape, with potential access to a variety of sources that could be useful
for enhancing CPI measurement. In Brazil, experiments have begun to collect
some prices using web-scraping techniques. IBGE has also started
negotiations with tax authorities to obtain access to electronic transaction
receipts (e-records) now issued routinely across much of the trade and service
sectors. These and other administrative sources have also become potential
alternatives to either replace or supplement current data collection operations
towards producing the Brazilian CPI. Our paper discusses these challenges and
opportunities while reporting on developments in Brazil towards improved CPI
measurement.

Keywords
CPI; Big data; Web scraping; e-records

1. Introduction
Cost of Living (COL) measurement has never been easy. The main indicator
used for this purpose is the Consumer Price Index (CPI) [ILO, 2004, Stoevska,
2018]. Due to its fixed basket approach, the CPI provides an approximation to
variations in COL. Measurement of the CPI presents its own challenges, such
as the definition and maintenance of a representative basket of goods and
services consumed and corresponding weights, and the regular collection of
a representative sample of prices for items in such a basket. In countries like
Brazil, the challenges also include proper coverage of the population, as well
as the large set of socio-economic situations to be considered when designing
price data collection operations.
The so-called ‘digital era’ promoted profound changes in several aspects
of Society. The advent of new kinds of goods and services, the creation of e-
commerce and new transaction platforms, and the massive spread and use of
mobile communications devices with high-quality internet connections (giving

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1 pedro-luis.silva@ibge.gov.br; vladimir.miranda@ibge.gov.br
The views expressed in this paper are those of the authors and do not necessarily
reflect the views of IBGE.

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