Govt to source data from Amazon, Flipkart to update inflation, services indexes: Report

The government will begin sourcing price data directly from e-commerce companies such as Amazon and Flipkart to update its benchmark inflation measure. This aims to better reflect changing consumption patterns and address concerns that current data is outdated, said Saurabh Garg, secretary of the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation.

According to a report in Reuters, the inclusion of online prices is expected to make retail inflation data more robust as e-commerce accounts for a growing share of household spending. The ministry has started collecting prices from e-commerce websites in 12 cities with populations over 2.5 million and is negotiating with platforms for direct data access.

E-commerce firms will provide weekly average prices of goods to the government, which will verify the data against a broader dataset to prevent distortions. The new data sources will be included in the Consumer Price Index (CPI) when a new series is introduced early next year. This update will also adjust weightages based on recent consumption surveys showing a reduced share of food expenditure.

The revised CPI will incorporate prices of airfares and streaming media from online sources, reflecting their growing importance in consumption. This change is part of several major statistical improvements planned over the next two years, including a new GDP series with a base year of 2022-23.

Earlier this year, the ministry launched an investment survey and more frequent employment reports, though some economists have questioned their accuracy. Garg said the number of households surveyed for monthly employment reports has nearly doubled to about 45,000, improving the precision and reliability of the data.

The ministry is also developing a new Index of Services Production to measure output in the services sector quarterly. This sector accounts for more than half of India’s GDP but is currently tracked less frequently than manufacturing. The new index is expected to be launched by mid next year.