Austria
Official title
Consumer Price Index.
Scope
The index is compiled monthly and covers the whole country and
all households without size or income limits.
Official base
1986 = 100.
Source of weights
The weights and selected items were derived from a household
expenditure survey conducted during one month between March 1984
and February 1985, covering 6,599 households representing the
whole population. The average monthly expenditure per household
was 20,390 Schillings at the time of survey and the average
household size 2.7. The weights were adjusted on the basis of
data obtained from national accounts.
Weights and composition
| Major groups
| Number of items
| Weights
| Approximate number of price quotations
|
| Food
| 149 | 23268 | ...
|
| Tobacco
| 79 | 2512 | ...
|
| Rent (incl. maintenance and repairs)
| 28 | 13056 | ...
|
| Fuel and light
| 13 | 5405 | ...
|
| Household equipement
| 41 | 7582 | ...
|
| Clothing and footwear
| 50 | 10694 | ...
|
| Cleaning materials
| 9 | 1402 | ...
|
| Personal and medical care
| 31 | 6006 | ...
|
| Education and recreation
| 85 | 14302 | ...
|
| Transport and communication
| 130 | 15773 | ...
|
| Total
| 615 | 100000 | 50000
|
Household consumption expenditure
Consumption expenditure for the purpose of the index refers to
all money expenditure by the household on goods and services
intended for consumption. It includes the consumer value of
home-produced goods consumed by households. Contributions to social
insurance and pension funds, purchase of dwellings, income taxes and
other taxes, remittances and gifts are excluded.
Method of data collection
Prices are collected by agents on the second Wednesday of each month.
Prices are obtained centrally for 328 items and regionally for the other
287 items from retail outlets, fixed market areas and service
establishments representing usual shopping places in 20 towns. The
prices used in the calculation of the index are the regular prices paid
by consumers. Sale and discount prices are not taken into account.
Housing
Rent quotations are obtained from the quarterly results of the
microcensus for 10,000 rented and owner-occupied dwellings. So
as to facilitate housing cost comparisons, prices are calculated per
square metre. The changes in rent quotations from one quarter to the
next are distributed proportionately over each of the following three
months.
Specification of varieties
The descriptions of the varieties are of a general nature, to
enable price collectors to choose the type, quality, quantity, etc.
of items with the highest volume of sales in each retail outlet for
regular pricing.
Substitution, quality change, etc.
If the quality of an item changes, the base price is modified in
proportion to the percentage change between the current and preceding
months.
Seasonal items
Seasonal fluctuations in the prices of fresh fruit and vegetables
are taken into account by varying items and item weights within
monthly baskets of constant group weights.
Computation
The index is computed according to the Laspeyres formula as a
weighted arithmetic average with fixed base, using weights
corresponding to the base period. In computing item indices, the
average of price relatives of the current and base
periods are used. The national index represents the weighted
arithmetic average of indices relating to 20 towns, the weights
being proportional to the population of the each town according
to the 1981 population census.
Organisation and publication
Oesterreichisches Statistisches Zentralamt: Statistische
Nachrichten
(Vienna).
Idem: Verbraucherpreisindex, Revision
1987
, Beiträge zur österreichischen Statistik, Heft 853, 1987.