Data extracted in January 2025
Planned article update: April 2026
Highlights
In 2024, the harmonised consumer price index showed newspapers and periodicals prices rising in all EU countries compared with 2019.
From 2023 to 2024, the average prices of newspapers and periodicals, books, and cultural services in the EU increased faster than other cultural goods and the headline inflation.
The all-items HICP and HICPs for cultural goods and services, EU, 2014-2024
This article, part of the "Culture statistics" online publication, provides an overview of how prices of cultural goods and services have changed based on the harmonised index of consumer prices (HICP).
HICP for cultural goods and services – trends at EU level
In addition to the headline inflation aggregate, the ’all-items HICP’, there are around 400 sub-indices for different goods and services. The article focuses on 6 sub-indices related to culture:
- ‘equipment for the reception, recording and reproduction of sound and picture’ (ECOICOP 09.1.1);
- ‘information processing equipment’ (ECOICOP 09.1.3);
- ‘recording media’ (ECOICOP 09.1.4);
- ‘cultural services’ (ECOICOP 09.4.2);
- ‘books’ (ECOICOP 09.5.1);
- ‘newspapers and periodicals’ (ECOICOP 09.5.2).
In 2024, prices of ‘newspapers and periodicals’ rose faster than the other cultural goods tracked by the HICP. The sub-indices for ‘newspapers and periodicals’, ‘books’, ‘cultural services’, and ‘recording media’ showed slower price increases compared with 2023, while those for ‘information processing equipment’ and ‘equipment for the reception, recording and reproduction of sound and picture’ saw an acceleration in price declines. After 3 years of negative index, prices for recorded media have been rising since 2022. The details of these trends are shown in Figure 1.
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Source: Eurostat (prc_hicp_aind)
The five-year annual average rate of change (represented by darker bars in Figure 2) shows that, between 2019 and 2024, at the EU level, ’newspapers and periodicals’ recorded the highest price increase among the cultural products. The sub-index for ’newspapers and periodicals’ rose by an average of 5.3% per year, 1 percentage point higher than the ‘all-items’ HICP. In other words, the prices of newspapers and periodicals increased faster than the headline inflation.
The five-year rates of change for the sub-indices of ’cultural services’, and ’books’ were also positive but remained below the ‘all-items’ HICP.
Among the 3 groups of cultural products that experienced declines in price indices over 5 years, the most pronounced decrease was observed in the sub-index for ’equipment for the reception, recording, and reproduction of sound and picture’, which fell at an average annual rate of 2.8% between 2019 and 2024.
Comparing 2024 with 2023, prices of ’information processing equipment’ decreased by 5.4%, while prices of ’equipment for the reception, recording and reproduction of sound and picture’ fell by 2.5%. Among all other culture-related HICPs that increased, only the prices of ‘recording media’ rose at a slower pace than the ‘all-items’ HICP (see Figure 2).
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(%)
Source: Eurostat (prc_hicp_aind)
HICP for cultural goods and services – focus on countries
All EU countries saw a rise in newspapers prices over the past 5 years
Between 2019 and 2024, all EU countries saw an increase in ’newspapers and periodicals’ prices (Table 1). Over that period, the annual average rate of change for this category was higher than the headline inflation rate in 20 EU countries. From 2023 to 2024, the index grew faster than the headline inflation rate in 23 EU countries, with the highest increases recorded in Romania (16.5%) and Hungary (14.0%).
In the period 2019–2024, the annual average growth rate in the prices of ’cultural services’ was positive in 25 EU countries, but in 23 of them it remained below the overall inflation rate. The fastest increases (exceeding 5% per year, on average) were recorded in Estonia, Latvia, Hungary and Poland. Slovakia was the only country where the price index for this category declined over the five-year period. Between 2023 and 2024, the index grew faster than the ‘all-items’ HICP in 19 EU countries. During that period, however, 2 EU countries also recorded a decline: Slovakia (-17.0%) and Poland (-0.2%).
In 2024, the annual average price index for books was lower than in 2019 in three EU countries. The decline in book prices between these years was most noticeable in Portugal, where the index recorded an average decrease of 7.5% per year. Over that period, average book price rates rose faster than the headline inflation rate in four EU countries – Croatia, Denmark, Malta and Sweden. From 2023 to 2024, the index grew faster than the headline inflation rate in 13 EU countries, increased at a slower pace than inflation in 12 EU countries, and declined in 2 EU countries (Ireland: -12.3%, Sweden: -2.5%).
In the five-year period between 2019 and 2024, the sub-index for ’recording media’ decreased in 14 EU countries. The index fell the fastest in Slovenia (-5.5% per year, on average) and Finland (4.5%). In 2024, however, the index increased in 16 EU countries compared with the previous year, with the largest increases in Estonia (12.4%) and Poland (12.2%).
In most EU countries, the price index of information processing equipment continued to decline
Between 2019 and 2024, the ’information processing equipment’ index decreased in 18 EU countries. The largest annual average decrease in the index was recorded in Estonia (-8.4%), while the highest increase occurred in Romania (3.4%). From 2023 to 2024, the ’information processing equipment’ index decreased in 23 EU countries, with decreases of 9% and more observed in Belgium, Italy, Malta, Latvia and Luxembourg. The largest increases were observed in Greece (4.8 %) and Romania (3.9 %).
The index for ’equipment for the reception, recording, and reproduction of sound and picture’ saw the most significant declines between 2019 and 2024 in Italy (-9.3% average annual decrease), Belgium (-8.9%) and Bulgaria (-8.5%). Slight increases were observed in Czechia, Romania, the Netherlands and Austria. Between 2023 and 2024, the index decreased in 22 EU countries, with the largest drops — of 10% or more —recorded in Poland and Bulgaria.
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(%)
Source: Eurostat (prc_hicp_aind)
Source data for tables and graphs
Coverage and data sources
Eurostat compiles data on the development of prices using harmonised index of consumer prices (HICP).
Eurostat publishes the harmonised index of consumer prices (HICP), which provides a comparable measure of inflation for EU Member States and various products and services. These indices measure changes over time for prices of consumer goods and services bought by households. In other words, they are a set of consumer price indices calculated according to a harmonised approach and a set of definitions as laid down in EU law.
The HICP uses the European classification of individual consumption according to purpose adapted to the needs of the HICP (ECOICOP-HICP). This is the European version of the UN classification of individual consumption according to purpose, COICOP. For culture statistics, ECOICOP-HICP covers 2 main categories: cultural goods and cultural services.
ECOICOP cultural items include:
- books and newspapers;
- equipment that allows various forms of culture to be consumed (TV and stereo equipment; information and communication technologies);
- recording media on which some cultural products can be delivered (CDs, DVDs or Blu-rays);
- cultural services (cinemas, theatres, concerts; museums, libraries, zoological gardens; television and radio fees, hire of equipment and accessories for culture).
Context
Culture is one of Europe's greatest assets: it is a source of values, identity and a sense of belonging. It also contributes to well-being, social cohesion and inclusion. The cultural and creative sectors provide a stimulus for economic growth, job creation and international trade.
In accordance with Article 167 of the Treaty of Lisbon, the EU is obliged to contribute to the flowering of the cultures of the Member States, while respecting their national and regional diversity and at the same time bringing the common heritage to the fore.
The EU supports these objectives through the Creative Europe programme and a number of policy actions included in the work plan for culture (2023-2026). The work plan, adopted by EU culture ministers in December 2022, sets out 4 main priorities for European cooperation in cultural policymaking:
- Artists and cultural professionals: empowering the cultural and creative sectors.
- Culture for the people: enhancing cultural participation and the role of culture in society.
- Culture for the planet: unleashing the power of culture.
- Culture for co-creative partnerships: strengthening the cultural dimension of EU external relations.
The production of reliable, comparable and up-to-date cultural statistics, which provide a basis for sound cultural policymaking, is a cross-sectoral priority for the European Commission. Eurostat compiles culture statistics from several different data collections to provide policymakers and other users of statistics with information on the main developments in the field of culture, covering issues such as education, employment, business, international trade, participation patterns and consumption patterns.
Explore further
Other articles
- Culture statistics - household expenditure on culture
- Culture statistics - use of ICT for cultural purposes
- Consumer prices - inflation
- Comparative price levels of consumer goods and services
- Consumer prices of recreational and sporting goods and services
- HICP methodology (background article)
- Culture (all Statistics Explained articles on culture)
- Sport (articles on sport statistics)
Database
Culture (cult), see:
- Private households expenditure on culture (cult_exp)
- HICP - annual data (average index and rate of change) (prc_hicp_aind)
- HICP - monthly data (index) (prc_hicp_midx)
Thematic section
Publications
- Culture statistics (online publication)
- Guide to Eurostat culture statistics — 2018 edition
Methodology
External links
Legislation
- The requirements and compilation guidelines for the HICP are governed by the regulations and implementing acts available in the dedicated sub-section of the 'HICP' section on the Eurostat website.