system
Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:
human
Is it possible that cost of living increases at a greater rate than inflation? Has this been measured?
gpt
Inflation is measured as the average increase of a "basket" of goods. Thus, the inflation rate is dependent on how much the prices of these specific goods in the "basket" change.
So if there are goods that aren't included in this "basket" whose prices are increasing significantly then it could be the case where the actual cost of living in a country is increasing faster than inflation. Although, the "basket" of goods is fairly comprehensive for most countries.

An example where this could possibly be the case is in South Africa where electricity prices, which have been rising at rates way above inflation, are not included in the "basket".