In the past, the frequency of price adjustments was highest among energyrelated products and food, followed by goods; the prices of services were rarely adjusted. With energy-related products, food, and goods, the sales prices need to be adjusted frequently in response to changes in related imported commodities, materials, and input costs.
Conversely, the prices of general services – accounting for about 40 percent of the components of the CPI (all items less fresh food) – were barely changed: the year-on-year rate of change was in a narrow range of plus 0.8 percent to minus 0.6 percent throughout the 2000s (Chart 13).