Estonia
Official title
Consumer Price Index
Scope
The index is computed and published monthly. The index covers the
whole country and all private households residing permanently in Estonia.
Official base
1997, 1993, June 1992, 3rd quarter 1990, 4th quarter 1989 = 100
Quarterly data are available since the 1st quarter 1990 and monthly
data since July 1990.
Sources of weights
Weights are derived from the national accounts statistics in combination
with the data from the family budget survey. Other government and market
research sources are also used on an ad hoc basis. The family budget
survey covers the whole country and all types of households but institutional
households are excluded.
Weights and composition
| Major groups
| Number of items
| Weights
| Approx. No of price quotations
|
| Food and non-alcoholic beverages
| 137 | 337.9 | 4,500
|
| Alcoholic beverages and tobacco
| 15 | 58.2 | 500
|
| Clothing and footwear
| 64 | 75.2 | 2,000
|
| Housing
| 27 | 213.9 | 500
|
| Household goods
| 49 | 58.4 | 1,500
|
| Health
| 18 | 18.6 | 450
|
| Transport
| 42 | 65.8 | 850
|
| Communications
| 11 | 21.5 | 120
|
| Recreation and culture
| 52 | 63.2 | 1,200
|
| Education
| 4 | 14.6 | 40
|
| Hotels, cafes and restaurants
| 14 | 31.5 | 450
|
| Miscellaneous goods and services
| 35 | 41.2 | 890
|
| TOTAL
| 468 | 1,000.0 | 13,000
|
The COICOP classification system is used since 1998.
Household consumption expenditure
Expenditures of capital nature, income in kind, home ownership,
credit purchases, licence fees, insurance, income and othertaxes,
remittances and gifts are excluded from the concept of household
consumption expenditures. Car insurance and healthcare
services are included.
Sample selection
Geographical localities (10) are selected according to their
geographical position and number of inhabitants. Outlets are
selected by purposive sampling, taking into account consistency
and completeness of the range of items, permanency of the outlet,
cooperativeness, geographical location and type of outlet.
Method of data collection
Prices are collected monthly, in the week which includes the 15th
day of the month, by 27 trained price collectors. Prices are
collected from different types of outlets like supermarkets,
department stores, neighbourhood shops, traditional specialised
shops, open air markets, etc. Discounts and sale prices are
included. Free market prices for items which also have official
prices and imported prices are also included in the index.
Second-hand prices (except for used cars) and black market prices
are not taken into account.
Housing
Owner occupied housing is not included in the index.
Specification of varieties
Knowledge of various specialists of firms and outlets are used to
develop item specifications. Specification describes the most
important characteristics of the good or service.
Substitution, quality changes
As far as possible, goods of exactly the same quality are priced
each month. When this is impossible, adjustments are made on the
basis of expert judgement of differences in quality. When a
variety of a given type or quality disappears from the market it
is replaced by a new one. Appearance of new products and
disappearance of old products are reviewed continuously.
Seasonal items
The last available prices are usually carried forward during the off-season.
Computation
The CPI is calculated using the Laspeyres formula. Regional
average prices are calculated as simple arithmetic mean of prices
collected. National average prices are computed as weighted
arithmetic average of regional average prices.
Other information
Next revision of CPI is planed for the year 2000.
Organisation and publication
Statistical Office of Estonia
Monthly Bulletin Estonian Statistics
,
Statistical Yearbook
, News Releases
On Internet web site: http://www.stat.ee