When the gyro wrap became "the classic"

Product milestones and what they cost

The "classic equivalent" is the factor the index uses: how much of a present-day classic wrap that year's wrap counts as. In 1976 it counts as 0.50, so two wraps of the era are worth about one of today's. The "classic price" is that year's price rescaled to that product - the denominator of the index.

The A-D grades next to each year show how well documented that price is. The glossary at the end of the page explains them.

What the data says

These are computed automatically from the current dataset, not hand-written.

• From 1976 to 2026 the wage buys 32% fewer classic gyros: 314 down to 214 per month.
• Best documented year: 1989 at 505 classic gyros a month. In the composition model the top place holds in 5 of 7 tests; in the other 2 the top year is 1984. Worst: 2025 (A) and 2026 (B, provisional), both at 214. Only grade A or B years are counted.
• Around the euro changeover the index moves from 391 classic gyros (2001) to 398 (2003), a 2% rise. The big decline comes later, with the crisis.
• In the model, part of the price rise buys more food: the rescaling to the classic wrap assumes today's wrap is about 2.0 times the 1977 product (equivalence 0.497), with fries inside and a bigger portion. Weights and composition are assumptions, not weighings.
• In the model, without a series of weighings, the portion falls from about 110 g in 2015 to 88 g. Menu prices rose 100% since then; if the model's weights hold, the price per 100 g of meat rose 150%.
• If the model's weights hold, the wage buys 238 portions of 100 g of meat a month in 1976 and 188 in 2026, that is -21% against -32% in classic gyros. The gap would mean part of the wrap's "inflation" is a bigger portion; establishing it needs weighings.
• The model puts fries inside the pita from the early 1990s and takes them for granted from 2000: before that we are not comparing exactly the same product.

Glossary: what each term means

Pita-Gyro Index

How many classic wraps the net minimum wage buys in one month. Wage divided by the price rescaled to today's classic wrap - not by the raw price of the era, which would make every year measure a different product.

CPI (inflation)

The Consumer Price Index measures price changes in a basket of goods and services. The catering CPI covers food-service activities; its path can differ from the general index.

Nominal vs real

Nominal is the number as printed. Real is the same number translated into today's purchasing power.

Price control

A state-set maximum price. For 1976-1989 the series distinguishes regulated ceilings from reports of free-market prices. Market Order 14/1989 does NOT lift it: it replaces the fixed ceiling with a formula tied to the cost of meat. Each year identifies its source type; a ceiling is not a market average.

Shrinkflation

Less quantity for the same price. Establishing it for a gyro wrap requires comparable weight and composition measurements over time. Price ratios alone do not establish a change in grams.

Quality adjustment

Restating the price for a common reference product. In this model it depends on assumptions about wrap weight and composition; it is not a second observed shop price.

Uncertainty range

Price bounds come from the source range or declared model assumptions and may be asymmetric. They are not a statistical confidence interval or a measure of variation across all shops.

Input categories A-D

A: Model price anchor; source verification is separate; B: Regulated, single-source or an estimate with a range; C: Interpolated between model anchors; D: Interpolated inside the price-control era, or projected outside the documented range. Categories describe how the price enters the model. They do not certify original-source verification, representative sampling or historical product composition.

Wage basis

After contributions, before income tax. Annual income divided by 12, using 14 payments throughout the series. Wage and contributions are twelve-month means. Purchasing power in classic gyros.