Congo (Brazzaville, Africans)
Official title
Indice des prix à la consommation familiale africaine (Consumer
Price Index for African families).
Scope
The index is compiled monthly and relates to African households
in Brazzaville.
Official base
December 1977 = 100.
Source of weights
The weights and selected items were derived from a household
expenditure survey conducted between July 1976 and July 1977
among 100 African households of all types in Brazzaville.
Weights and composition
| Major groups
| Number of items
| Weights
| Approximate number of price quotations
|
| Food
| 70 | 58.6 | 1035
|
| Beverages and tobacco
| 10 | 3.4 | 59
|
| Clothing, footwear and household linen
| 12 | 6.9 | 11
|
| Housing, construction
| 17 | 10.1 | 17
|
| Fuel, power and water
| 8 | 5.7 | 16
|
| Hygiene and medical care
| 15 | 3.8 | 47
|
| Transport, recreation
| 12 | 8.6 | 14
|
| Miscellaneous
| 13 | 2.9 | 23
|
| Total
| 157 | 100.0 | 1222
|
Household consumption expenditure
This includes payments in kind and consumption of own-produced
goods. Income tax is excluded.
Method of data collection
Prices for most items are collected each month by agents at markets,
various retail outlets and service establishments. Prices of
fresh food sold at markets are obtained twice a month.
Data for power, water, transport, medical care and recreation are
collected each quarter. Discounts and sale prices are not taken
into consideration.
Housing
Data on rents are collected each quarter for a sample of 14
four-room housing units with electricity and a water tap on their
lot, located in central neighbourhoods. Owner-occupied housing
is not taken into consideration.
Specification of varieties
The specifications are given in great detail.
Substitution, quality change, etc.
If an item disappears from the market, its last price is used
for three months at most; subsequently, the price of a similar
item is taken and a correction factor is applied when computing the
index.
Seasonal items
If an item disappears temporarily from the market, its last
reported price is taken or it is replaced by a similar item.
Computation
The index is computed according to the Laspeyres formula as a
weighted arithmetic average with fixed base, using weights
corresponding to July 1976-July 1977.
The index for an item is obtained using the price ratios for
the current and base periods. Average prices are the
simple arithmetic averages of all prices collected.
Organisation and publication
Centre National de la statistique et des Etudes économiques:
Bulletin mensuel des statistiques
(Brazzaville).
Idem: Annuaire statistique du Congo
.