The headline CPI includes all items in the market basket, while core CPI excludes volatile items like cereals, meat (fresh, chilled, or frozen), fish (live, fresh, chilled, or frozen), dates, figs and tropical fruits (fresh), other vegetables (fresh or chilled), fruit bearing vegetables (fresh or chilled), electricity, liquefied hydrocarbons, diesel, and gasoline.
Core CPI aims to capture the permanent component of the inflationary process that can be influenced by monetary policy. It is used to get a better understanding of underlying inflation trends.