Weighting bias and inflation in the time of COVID-19: evidence from Swiss transaction data

Swiss Journal of Economics and Statistics

Table 4 Swiss CPI weights and “low-touch” weights

Main groups	CPI weights	Low-touch weights	Low-touch add-on
Food and non-alcoholic beverages	10.31	12.00	15%
Alcoholic beverages and tobacco	2.91	2.94
Clothing and footwear	3.59	3.63
Housing and energy	25.31	25.60
Household goods and services	3.67	3.71
Healthcare	14.33	14.49
Transport	11.58	11.04	–7.7%
Communications	3.11	3.14
Recreation and culture	8.43	7.45	–3.8%
Education	1.05	1.06
Restaurants and hotels	9.45	8.61	–10%
Other goods and services	6.25	6.32

The CPI weight is the share of expenditure in a given category over total expenditures. The low-touch weights are the assumed expenditure shares in the “low-touch” scenario. They are calculated by adding fixed markups (or markdowns) to the CPI weights for 2020. the fourth column gives the average add-on per main group. Weights are normalized and applied from June 2020 until the end of the forecast period