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Pro-rich Inflation in Europe: Implications for the Measurement of Inequality

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  • Eren Gürer
  • Alfons J. Weichenrieder
  • Alfons Weichenrieder

Abstract

This paper studies the distributional consequences of a systematic variation in expenditure shares and prices. Using European Union Household Budget Surveys and Harmonized Index of Consumer Prices data, we construct household-specific price indices and reveal the existence of a pro-rich inflation in Europe. Particularly, over the period 2001-15, the consumption bundles of the poorest deciles in 25 European countries have, on average, become 10.5 percentage points more expensive than those of the richest decile. We find that ignoring the differential inflation across the distribution underestimates the change in the Gini (based on consumption expenditure) by up to 0.03 points. Cross-country heterogeneity in this change is large enough to alter the inequality ranking of numerous countries. The average inflation effect we detect is almost as large as the change in the standard Gini measure over the period of interest.

Suggested Citation

  • Eren Gürer & Alfons J. Weichenrieder & Alfons Weichenrieder, 2018. "Pro-rich Inflation in Europe: Implications for the Measurement of Inequality," CESifo Working Paper Series 7085, CESifo.
    • Handle: RePEc:ces:ceswps:_7085
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    Cited by:

    1. Afonso, Óscar & Lima, Pedro G., 2024. "The struggle between capitalists and workers concerning patent and monetary policies in a Schumpeterian economy," Economic Systems, Elsevier, vol. 48(3).
    2. Bianco, Danilo, 2024. "The Redistributive Effects of Inflation on Spanish Households," MPRA Paper 122176, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    3. Neyer, Ulrike & Stempel, Daniel, 2025. "Household inflation heterogeneity and the relative price elasticity channel of monetary policy," Economic Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 144(C).
    4. Pirmin Fessler & Friedrich Fritzer & Mirjam Salish, 2023. "Who pays the price when prices rise?," Monetary Policy & the Economy, Oesterreichische Nationalbank (Austrian Central Bank), issue Q4/22-Q1/, pages 67-84.
    5. Stempel, Daniel & Neyer, Ulrike, 2022. "Should Central Banks Consider Household Inflation Heterogeneity?," VfS Annual Conference 2022 (Basel): Big Data in Economics 264053, Verein für Socialpolitik / German Economic Association.
    6. Aprea, Massimo & Raitano, Michele, 2025. "Income inequality in times of high inflation in Europe," Structural Change and Economic Dynamics, Elsevier, vol. 73(C), pages 449-459.
    7. Neyer, Ulrike & Stempel, Daniel & Stevens, Alexandra, 2025. "Subsistence consumption and inflation heterogeneity: Implications for monetary policy transmission in a HANK model," DICE Discussion Papers 427, Heinrich Heine University Düsseldorf, Düsseldorf Institute for Competition Economics (DICE).
    8. Hayo, Bernd & Méon, Pierre-Guillaume, 2023. "Measuring Household Inflation Perceptions and Expectations: The Effect of Guided vs Non-Guided Inflation Questions," Journal of Macroeconomics, Elsevier, vol. 78(C).
    9. Bonfatti, Andrea & Giarda, Elena, 2025. "Energy price increases and mitigation policies: Redistributive effects on Italian households," Journal of Policy Modeling, Elsevier, vol. 47(2), pages 251-275.
    10. Pathak Chalise, Prayash, 2025. "Household-Level Food Price Inflation Heterogeneity: Evidence and Insights from the U.S. Consumer Panel Data (2013-2023)," 2025 AAEA & WAEA Joint Annual Meeting, July 27-29, 2025, Denver, CO 360870, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association.
    11. Ha,Jongrim & Ivanova,Anna & Ohnsorge,Franziska Lieselotte & Unsal Portillo Ocando,Derya Filiz, 2019. "Inflation : Concepts, Evolution, and Correlates," Policy Research Working Paper Series 8738, The World Bank.
    12. Coccia, Samantha & Russo, Alberto, 2025. "Inflation, inequality and financial vulnerability: Monetary vs. fiscal policy in the face of an energy shock," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 143(C).
    13. Ahnert, Henning & Kavonius, Ilja Kristian & Honkkila, Juha & Sola, Pierre, 2020. "Understanding household wealth: linking macro and micro data to produce distributional financial accounts," Statistics Paper Series 37, European Central Bank.
    14. Marina Tkalec, 0000. "Inflation response to the COVID-19 pandemic and government interventions: Evidence from EU-27," Proceedings of Economics and Finance Conferences 14216251, International Institute of Social and Economic Sciences.
    15. Ricciutelli, Francesco, 2024. "Energy Inflation and Consumption Inequality," MPRA Paper 120899, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    16. Jake D. Orchard, 2025. "Non-homothetic Demand Shifts and Inflation Inequality," Finance and Economics Discussion Series 2025-085, Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System (U.S.).
    17. Konstantin A. Kholodilin & Sebastian Kohl, 2021. "Rent Price Control – Yet Another Great Equalizer of Economic Inequalities?: Evidence from a Century of Historical Data," Discussion Papers of DIW Berlin 1927, DIW Berlin, German Institute for Economic Research.
    18. Michael Lokshin & Zurab Sajaia & Iván Torre, 2025. "Who Suffers the Most From the Cost of Living Crisis?," Review of Income and Wealth, International Association for Research in Income and Wealth, vol. 71(1), February.
    19. Kukk, Merike & Toczynski, Jan & Basten, Christoph, 2025. "Beyond the headline: How personal exposure to inflation shapes the financial choices of households," Journal of Monetary Economics, Elsevier, vol. 153(C).
    20. Leonardo Ciambezi & Alessandro Pietropaoli, 2024. "Relative price shocks and inequality: evidence from Italy," Questioni di Economia e Finanza (Occasional Papers) 883, Bank of Italy, Economic Research and International Relations Area.
    21. Neyer, Ulrike & Stempel, Daniel, 2022. "How should central banks react to household inflation heterogeneity?," DICE Discussion Papers 378, Heinrich Heine University Düsseldorf, Düsseldorf Institute for Competition Economics (DICE).
    22. Julia Renee Roseman Norfleet & Ivailo Izvorski & Michael M. Lokshin & Dorothe Singer & Iván Torre, "undated". "Europe and Central Asia Economic Update, Spring 2023," World Bank Publications - Reports 39617, The World Bank Group.
    23. Messner, Teresa & Rumler, Fabio, 2024. "Inflation heterogeneity across Austrian households. Evidence from household scanner data," Working Paper Series 2894, European Central Bank.
    24. Baez Ramirez,Javier Eduardo & Inan,Osman Kaan & Nebiler,Metin, 2021. "Getting Real ? The Uneven Burden of Inflation across Households in Turkey," Policy Research Working Paper Series 9869, The World Bank.

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    JEL classification:

    • D31 - Microeconomics - - Distribution - - - Personal Income and Wealth Distribution

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