Czech Republic
Official title
Consumer Price Index.
Scope
The index is compiled monthly and covers the whole population of
the Czech Republic.
Official base
December 1993, previous month, corresponding period of the
previous year, preceding 12 months, December 1994 and average of
1994.
Sources of weights
The weights and selected items were derived from the structure of
household expenditure, as obtained from the household expenditure
survey conducted in 1993.
Weights and composition
| Major groups
| Number of
Items
| Weights
| Approx. No. of
price
quotation
|
| Food, beverage and tobacco | 170 | 327.09 | ...
|
| Clothing and footwear | 113 | 90.88 | ...
|
| Housing, water, electricity, gas and other fuels | 65 | 143.67 | ...
|
| Furnishing, household equipment, routine maintenance of the house
| 108 | 77.15 | ...
|
| Health | 12 | 44.52 | ...
|
| Transport | 46 | 104.77 | ...
|
| Leisure, entertainment and culture | 87 | 97.53 | ...
|
| Education | 20 | 16.91 | ...
|
| Hotels, cafes and restaurants | 46 | 47.25 | ...
|
| Miscellaneous goods and services | 54 | 50.53 | ...
|
| Total | 761 | 1,000.00 | ...
|
Classification is adapted to the COICOP classification.
Household consumption expenditure
All money expenditure made by households in all types of shops for
the purchase of food and industrial goods, catering and other
services, including administrative, notarial, lawyers', juridical
and local fees, and material and personal insurance.
Sample selection
Goods and services which have a significant share in the
expenditure of households were chosen to be the price
representatives. The item varieties are selected by the local
statistical offices on the basis of centrally defined
specifications. Outlets were selected on the judgmental bases.
Method of data collection
The items selected for price collection must currently be
purchased by consumers, important from the point of view of
consumers' expenditure and representative of certain groups of
goods.
Prices are collected monthly, from the 1st to the 20th of
the reference month, at selected shops and service establishments
in all districts and the capital Prague. For some items with
uniform prices throughout the country (electricity, gas,
communication, etc.) the prices are collected centrally. The
number of price quotations for each item in each municipality is
1-24 depending on its character and size of the municipality.
The index is based on prices paid for the first quality goods;
prices of second-hand goods are not included in the index.
Housing
The rent index covers the rent acctualy paid ba tenants, imputed
rents for owner-occupied housing, services for routine maintenance
and repairs of the dwelling and housing related services. The rents
are collected monthly from the institutions to which the
management of dwelling is entrusted. As the rents have so far
been controlled, the rent index is measured on a relatively small
sample of dwellings.
The rent level depends on the size of the municipality where
dwellings are located. The national average rent is computed by
weighting the average rents in different size groups of
municipalities. The weights represent the structure of the
number of rented dwellings by municipality size. The rent paid
for cooperative dwellings is calculated by weighting the regional
average rents by the regional structure of cooperative dwellings.
Imputed rents for owner occupied housing are based on average
rent levels for cooperataive dwellings weighted by the structure
of owned dwellings.
Specification of varieties
The most of the items to be priced are broadly specified. A
particular variety is chosen and specified (size, make, brand,
quantity, quality, etc.) by the interviewer. Services are
specified in details.
Substitution, quality changes
When the selected item is no longer available in the selected
outlet, the price collector makes the replacement with another
variety of the same representative item. The description of the
new variety should be within the description of the selected
representative item. If a suitable item is not available in the
selected outlet, the price collector proceeds with another
outlet. The same problem arises when the outlet which serves as
a reporting unit is closed down. Information on replacements of
varieties or outlets is sent by the price collector to
headquarters, where each case is considered individually. As a
rule, insignificant differences in quality (e.g. of a
fashionable character) are not taken into account. Price changes
of only directly comparable varieties come into month-to month
index change of the representative item.
Seasonal items
Only fresh fruit and vegetable which are available during the
whole year are included in the index. For other kinds of
seasonal items like clothing and footwear, the price is imputed
during the off-season.
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.
Average prices of the items are calculated as a weighted
arithmetic mean of regional average prices (weights being the
mid-year population in 1993). Exceptions are rents, enrolment
fees for higher education, accommodation at undergraduate
hostels, lunch at undergraduate canteens and balneological care,
which are weighted by the relevant number of dwellings, students,
patients, etc.
Other information
Cost of living indices for employees', farmers' and pensioners'
households are also computed and published.
Organisation and publication
Czech Statistical Office
Quarterly Statistical Bulletin
Statistical Yearbook
Monthly statistics of the Czech Republic
On Internet Web site: http://www.czso.cz