European central banks report GenAI success in ‘enhancing’ inflation nowcasting

Executive Summary

A central bank project exploring AI’s ability to transform unstructured data into actionable economic intelligence concluded after 15 months. Generative AI was used to efficiently categorise millions of products to improve inflation nowcasting, addressing the time lag in official economic statistics by producing real-time estimates. The project, involving the Bank for International Settlements, European Central Bank, and Deutsche Bundesbank, highlighted the importance of leveraging online price data for effective monetary policymaking. The findings serve as a reference for statistical agencies and economic researchers.