Everyone has their own inflation – and now the ECB is measuring it. Although the official indicators show that prices are easing, everyday costs remain high, creating the familiar gap between what is announced and what we experience. That is why the European Central Bank created an interactive application that calculates “personal inflation,” based on each household’s real consumption habits. From supermarket spending and fuel to rents and services, users can see which products push up their own index and how it compares to the official HICP.

The ECB’s personal inflation calculator works based on your own “basket” of expenses: you choose your country, indicate how much you spend each month on 12 basic categories of goods and services (or, even more specifically, on subcategories), and the app calculates a personal index that is compared with the official national one and with the Eurozone average. For expenses that do not occur frequently – such as buying a car – the amount is “spread” over months of use (e.g., 6 years of use = 72 months). Once the information is filled in, the app displays the official inflation rate for the period, your personal index, and the categories that affect you the most.

The application automatically uses monthly updated price data from the ECB’s database, without storing any personal information. Personal inflation is calculated as a “weighted” average of price increases in the products you buy, based on the share they occupy in your basket. It is an estimate – not an exact measurement – since full accuracy would require data for every product a consumer buys today and bought a year ago.

The ECB also provides simple explanations of what inflation is, how it is measured, and why we often feel it is higher than the official data suggests. The application uses interactive visuals to show how the price basket is built, which categories have the highest weight, and why two families in the same city may experience completely different levels of price pressure. Anyone who wants to see their own real index can use the ECB’s official link.

In Greece, the most recent data shows that annual inflation reached 3.3% in October 2025, with core inflation remaining above 4%. But the real impact on households is much greater: food prices are up 6.8%, dairy +9%, oils +12%, coffee +14%, while increases in housing, utilities, and services range from 5%–7%. Rents in many urban areas have risen more than 20% in two years, creating a “personal” inflation rate that is in double digits for many. The ECB’s app makes this divergence visible and shows precisely where price pressure is truly hitting each household.