Inflation forecast is measured in terms of the consumer price index (CPI) or harmonised index of consumer prices (HICP) for euro area countries, the euro area aggregate and the United Kingdom. Inflation measures the general evolution of prices. It is defined as the change in the prices of a...

This background note considers how competition contributes to lower inflation, despite its unsuitability as a short-term anti-inflationary tool. It explains why competition is important for optimal inflation and summarises some of the empirical evidence of this relationship. It then considers...

When you think of someone who is an engineer, do you imagine a man or a woman wearing a hardhat? How about when you imagine a teacher standing in front of a class of schoolchildren? If you answer “a man” to the first question, and “a woman” to the second, there’s probably a reason. And...

Countries vary in the way they use marks, but they all tend to reward the mastery of skills and attitudes that promote learning. Teachers tend to give girls and socio-economically advantaged students better school marks, even if they don’t have better performance and attitudes than boys and...

Life expectancy at age 65 years old is the average number of years that a person at that age can be expected to live, assuming that age-specific mortality levels remain constant. However, the actual age-specific death rate of any particular birth cohort cannot be known in advance. If rates are...

Short-term interest rates are the rates at which short-term borrowings are effected between financial institutions or the rate at which short-term government paper is issued or traded in the market. Short-term interest rates are generally averages of daily rates, measured as a percentage....

Long-term interest rates forecast refers to projected values of government bonds maturing in ten years. It is measured as a percentage. Forecast data are calculated by making an overall assessment of the economic climate in individual countries and the world economy as a whole, using a...

Interest can be defined as the price paid by the borrower for the use of funds saved by the lender and the compensation to the lender for deferring expenditures. This compensation comprises two elements, namely a payment equal to the loss of purchasing power of the principal during the term of...