Official inflation is 5% and you pay 15% more? Calculate your individual indicator

dailyblitz.de 3 weeks ago

The Central Statistical Office (GUS) informs that inflation in Poland is about 5%, but receipts in stores and bills for services seem to tell a completely different story. Many Poles feel that their real costs have increased by 10%, 15% and even more. This frustrating phenomenon is not just a subjective feeling – it's an effect called ‘personal inflation’. The authoritative indicator is only a statistical average that does not take into account your unique purchasing habits and spending structure. In 2025 knowing this difference is crucial for the efficient management of home budget.

While the CSO analyses a broad and pre-defined ‘inflation basket’, Your individual basket may look completely different. If most of your spending is focused on the categories that cost as much as food, energy or transport – your individual inflation rate will be much higher than the authoritative rate. In this article, we will explain why this is happening and show you step by step how to calculate your own real rate of price growth.

Why are authoritative GUS data missing the fact in your wallet?

The key to knowing the discrepancy between CSO data and portfolio position is the concept inflation basket. This is simply a theoretical set of goods and services, on the basis of which the office calculates the average increase in prices in the economy. It consists of hundreds of items – from bread and milk, to rent and fuel, to fresh cars, RTV equipment or trips abroad. The problem is that this is statistical average for a full country that does not reflect individual consumption patterns.

Imagine that prices of food and energy (which make up a large part of the average household budget) rose by 15%, while prices of costly TVs and luxury cars fell by 10%. GUS, by averaging these values, can give inflation of 5%. However, for a individual who does not plan to buy a fresh car, and most of his income is spent on food and bills, the real increase in the cost of surviving is much closer to 15%. Yours personal buying basket is unique – depending on where you live, what lifestyle you have, whether you have children and what you spend the most money on.

Hidden inflation in practice. Where do prices emergence the fastest?

In 2025 certain categories of expenditure are peculiarly affected by rising prices, which straight translates into higher individual inflation. They are the ones that hit home budgets the most, while their impact on the overall CSO rate can be masked by other, little crucial positions for us. What should peculiar attention be paid to?

First of all, this is food. Basic products, specified as bread, dairy, meat or vegetables, are costly at a rate well above authoritative data. The second delicate point is energy and housekeeping – electricity, gas, heating and rent bills are a constant and increasing burden. The 3rd category is services, from a visit to the barber's office, to repair the car, to private medical care. Prices in these sectors are rising rapidly due to higher labour and energy costs. If these 3 groups account for more than half of your monthly expenses, you can be certain that your individual inflation is much higher than that reported by GUS 5%.

How to calculate your individual inflation rate? Step by step

The calculation of your inflation rate may seem complicated, but in fact it is simply a simple process that will give you a powerful tool for financial management. Just a small time and access to your spending history. Here's how to do it. step by step:

  • Step 1: Collect the expense data. analyse Yours bank statements, the past of transactions in a mobile application or receipt from 2 periods – for example from January 2024 and January 2025. The more accurate the data, the more precise the result.
  • Step 2: Group expenditure into categories. make respective main categories that best reflect the structure of your budget, e.g. Food, flat (act, media), Transport (fuel, tickets), wellness and beauty, amusement and culture, Other.
  • Step 3: Sum up and compare costs. number how much you spent on each category in both months. Then sum up all the expenses to get the full cost of your “basket” in January 2024 and January 2025.
  • Step 4: Calculate the percent change. usage a simple expression to calculate your individual inflation: ((Total expenditure in 2025 - full expenditure in 2024) / full expenditure in 2024) * 100%.

Example: If in January 2024 your full expenditure on basic needs amounted to PLN 4000 and in January 2025 you spent PLN 4,600 on the same things, Your individual inflation is: ((4600 – 4000) / 4000) * 100% = 15%. This is your real cost-of-life rate.

What to do with this knowledge? How to defend your savings?

Knowledge of your own real inflation rate is not only a curiosity, but, above all, a applicable tool. First, it allows for realistic budget planning and informed management of expenditure. Seeing that your cost increases by 15% alternatively than 5%, you can look for savings more effectively in terms that cost the fastest. Secondly, this is simply a powerful argument during negotiations on an increase. alternatively of relying on GUS general data, you can supply employers with circumstantial calculations showing how much your real surviving costs have increased.

Most importantly, cognition of individual inflation is crucial for effective savings protection. If your money on an interest-bearing deposit at 7% per year is to fight 15% of individual inflation, you actually lose 8% of purchasing power each year. This cognition motivates the search for investments whose rate of return exceeds your individual inflation rate, not just the authoritative one. Awareness of the real pace of price growth is the first step towards regaining control of its finances in a dynamically changing economical reality.

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Official inflation is 5% and you pay 15% more? Calculate your individual indicator

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