UICPIUnified Independent-Chain Price Index
A real-time restaurant price index extending the MIT Billion Prices Project to chain restaurants and independent hawker stalls across 10 countries. Tests whether food service prices lead official CPI as an early inflation signal — and finds they do in the US, with a 1-month lead (p = 0.0499).
10
Countries
102,499
Price Observations
198
Index-Months
1 / 10
Granger Significant
Country Dashboard
Click any country for full chartSingapore
DevelopedUICPI Index
86.8
Base = 100
Official CPI
133.2
Index level
Malaysia
EmergingUICPI Index
259.6
Base = 100
Official CPI
136.9
Index level
India
EmergingUICPI Index
800.0
Base = 100
Official CPI
164.3
Index level
Vietnam
EmergingUICPI Index
98.9
Base = 100
Official CPI
189.7
Index level
United Arab Emirates
DevelopedUICPI Index
—
Base = 100
Official CPI
No data
Pending
United States
DevelopedUICPI Index
110.6
Base = 100
Official CPI
129.5
Index level
United Kingdom
DevelopedUICPI Index
31.2
Base = 100
Official CPI
142.1
Index level
Australia
DevelopedUICPI Index
54.1
Base = 100
Official CPI
136.0
Index level
Limited Coverage — archival sources exhausted
Routable for reference; excluded from headline counts of Granger-eligible countries.Country Coverage
What is UICPI?
The Unified Independent-Chain Price Index tracks restaurant menu prices across chain restaurants and independent hawker stalls / street vendors in 10 countries, testing whether they lead official CPI readings.
Why it matters
In developing economies, street food represents 40–65% of household food expenditure but is entirely absent from all existing alternative price indices, including the MIT Billion Prices Project.
Data status
Collection began 2018. Full monthly time-series pending — current dataset has 102,499 price observations. Granger causality testing requires ≥24 monthly observations per country.