Congo (Brazzaville, Europeans)
Official title
Indice des prix à la consommation familiale européenne (Consumer
Price Index for European families).
Scope
The index is compiled monthly and relates to European households
in Brazzaville.
Official base
January 1964 = 100.
Source of weights
The weights and selected items were derived from a household expenditure
survey conducted from February to March 1963 among a number of European
households in Brazzaville.
Weights and composition
| Major groups
| Number of items
| Weights
| Approximate number of price quotations
|
| Food
| 71 | 51.6 | 112
|
| Household items and operations
| 18 | 6.9 | 24
|
| Medical care
| 5 | 3.1 | 10
|
| Clothing, footwear and household linen
| 13 | 7.7 | 15
|
| Fuel, power and water
| 3 | 5.4 | 4
|
| Domestic services
| 5 | 6.7 | 5
|
| Miscellaneous
| 20 | 18.6 | 21
|
| Total
| 135 | 100.0 | 191
|
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 various
retail outlets and service establishments. Prices of fresh food
sold at markets are obtained twice a month. Data for
power, water and transport are collected each quarter. Discounts
and sale prices are not taken into consideration.
Housing
Rent is not included in the index, nor is it taken into account
in determining the weights.
Specification of varieties
The specifications are given in great detail.
Substitution, quality change, etc.
If an item disappears from the market, its last reported price
is used for a maximum of three months; subsequently, the price of
a similar item is taken and a correction factor is applied in
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 February-March 1963.
The index for an item is obtained using the price ratio 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
.