India to use Amazon, Flipkart data directly in inflation revamp

India will begin sourcing price data directly from Amazon and Flipkart to update its inflation calculations, according to Saurabh Garg, secretary of the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation.

The government has started collecting prices from ecommerce platforms in 12 large cities and is negotiating for direct data access.

The new approach aims to better reflect online shopping trends in the consumer price index (CPI), as ecommerce makes up a growing share of household spending.

Ecommerce firms are being asked to provide weekly average prices, which will be cross-verified against other data.

The revised CPI, expected early next year, will also include data on airfares and streaming services.

India plans broader statistical changes, including a new GDP series with an updated base year of 2022–23.

The ministry has expanded monthly employment surveys and is developing a quarterly Index of Services Production to better track the services sector, which makes up over half of India’s GDP.

🔗 Source: The Economic Times

🧠 Food for thought

1️⃣ Statistical systems struggle to keep pace with rapid digital commerce growth

India’s move to integrate e-commerce pricing data highlights a fundamental challenge facing statistical agencies worldwide: their measurement frameworks often lag years behind economic reality.

The country’s current Consumer Price Index still relies on spending patterns from 2011-12, a time when online shopping was minimal compared to today’s 270 million online shoppers2 1.

This represents a massive shift in consumer behavior that traditional data collection methods, which typically involve field agents visiting physical stores, simply cannot capture effectively.

The scale of this transformation becomes clear when considering that India’s online shopper base is projected to grow 22% annually, suggesting that e-commerce’s share of total retail spending will continue expanding rapidly1.

The government’s decision to scrape pricing data from e-commerce websites in 12 major cities reflects recognition that ignoring digital channels creates blind spots in economic measurement1.