Egypt
Official title
Consumer Price Index - All Urban Population.
Scope
The index is compiled monthly covering all urban households throughout
the country without limits as to size or income.
Official base
July 1986 - June 1987 = 100.
Source of weights
The weights and selected items were derived from a household
expenditure survey conducted in 1981-1982 among a sample of
10,000 households. The items included in the index are based on
their relative importance. The weights of items which are not
included are allocated to the nearest item with the same price
trend or among other items in the same sub-group. The weights were
not adjusted to take into account price changes
between the survey period and the base period.
Weights and composition
Upper Egypt
| Major groups
| Number of items
| Weights
| Approximate number of price quotations
|
| Food
| 141 | 576.2 | ...
|
| Rent and water
| 4 | 77.4 | ...
|
| Fuel and light
| 9 | 38.3 | ...
|
| Furniture, cleaning materials and domestic services
| 55 | 48.7 | ...
|
| Clothing and footwear
| 92 | 106.5 | ...
|
| Medical care
| 42 | 23.9 | ...
|
| Transport and communication
| 14 | 29.9 | ...
|
| Education and recreation
| 29 | 27.4 | ...
|
| Miscellaneous
| 16 | 71.7 | ...
|
| Total
| 402 | 1000.0 | ...
|
Lower Egypt
| Food
| 141 | 575.5 | ...
|
| Rent and water
| 4 | 72.0 | ...
|
| Fuel and light
| 9 | 37.6 | ...
|
| Furniture, cleaning materials and domestic services
| 55 | 44.1 | ...
|
| Clothing and footwear
| 92 | 116.5 | ...
|
| Medical care
| 42 | 26.8 | ...
|
| Transport and communication
| 14 | 34.1 | ...
|
| Education and recreation
| 29 | 25.0 | ...
|
| Miscellaneous
| 16 | 68.4 | ...
|
| Total
| 402 | 1000.0 | ...
|
Canal Cities
| Food
| 141 | 567.2 | ...
|
| Rent and water
| 4 | 64.8 | ...
|
| Fuel and light
| 9 | 36.0 | ...
|
| Furniture, cleaning materials and domestic services
| 55 | 59.9 | ...
|
| Clothing and footwear
| 92 | 106.5 | ...
|
| Medical care
| 42 | 23.1 | ...
|
| Transport and communication
| 14 | 45.5 | ...
|
| Education and recreation
| 29 | 30.0 | ...
|
| Miscellaneous
| 16 | 67.0 | ...
|
| Total
| 402 | 1000.0 | ...
|
Alexandria
| Food
| 141 | 559 | ...
|
| Rent and water
| 4 | 59 | ...
|
| Fuel and light
| 9 | 41 | ...
|
| Furniture, cleaning materials and domestic services
| 55 | 47 | ...
|
| Clothing and footwear
| 92 | 101 | ...
|
| Medical care
| 42 | 26 | ...
|
| Transport and communication
| 14 | 63 | ...
|
| Education and recreation
| 29 | 32 | ...
|
| Miscellaneous
| 16 | 72 | ...
|
| Total
| 402 | 1000 | ...
|
Cairo
| Food
| 141 | 520 | ...
|
| Rent and water
| 4 | 59 | ...
|
| Fuel and light
| 9 | 34 | ...
|
| Furniture, cleaning materials and domestic services
| 55 | 58 | ...
|
| Clothing and footwear
| 92 | 107 | ...
|
| Medical care
| 42 | 32 | ...
|
| Transport and communication
| 14 | 67 | ...
|
| Education and recreation
| 29 | 45 | ...
|
| Miscellaneous
| 16 | 78 | ...
|
| Total
| 402 | 1000 | ...
|
Border lands
| Food
| 141 | 583.8 | ...
|
| Rent and water
| 4 | 81.6 | ...
|
| Fuel and light
| 9 | 40.7 | ...
|
| Furniture, cleaning materials and domestic services
| 55 | 34.3 | ...
|
| Clothing and footwear
| 92 | 122.3 | ...
|
| Medical care
| 42 | 12.9 | ...
|
| Transport and communication
| 14 | 42.9 | ...
|
| Education and recreation
| 29 | 23.6 | ...
|
| Miscellaneous
| 16 | 57.9 | ...
|
| Total
| 402 | 1000.0 | ...
|
Household consumption expenditure
Consumption expenditure for the purpose of the index is defined
as the actual expenditure on consumer goods and services during
the reference period. It excludes income taxes and other direct taxes,
life insurance payments, internal and external transfers,
instalments for commodities received out of the reference period,
gifts and charity donations.
Method of data collection
Prices for most items are collected each month by the regional
statistical offices. Prices of services and some manufactured goods
are obtained each quarter. At least three outlets report for each
commodity and service for each of the 26 cities. Of the 402
commodities and services, the prices of about 190 are
collected centrally by the Prices Division. The prices used in the
index are the prices actually paid. Controlled prices for rationed
goods are taken into account.
Housing
The rent index is calculated periodically using the rents for newly
established and demolished dwellings, since the rent of old dwellings
is kept constant by the authorities.
Specification of varieties
Not available.
Substitution, quality change, etc.
If an item is no longer available on the market, it is
substituted by a similar item. The base price of the old item is
adjusted by experts to take into account the change in quality.
Seasonal items
Fresh fruit and vegetables are treated as seasonal items. During
the off season, the weights of these items are assigned to the
other items in the same group.
Computation
The all-urban population index is computed as the weighted
average of six separate indices relating to Cairo, Alexandria,
Canal Zone, Upper Egypt, Lower Egypt and Border Land. The index for
each town or group of towns is computed according to the
Laspeyres formula as a weighted average of relatives formula.
These indices are then weighted according to the population of
each town or group of towns to arrive at the all-urban population
index. The weights applied are 28.6 per cent for Cairo, 13.8 per
cent for Alexandria, 4.7 per cent for Canal Zone, 25.5 per cent
for Upper Egypt, 25.9 per cent for lower Egypt and 1.4 per cent
for Border Land.
Other information
Separate indices are published for Cairo, Alexandria, Canal Zone,
Upper Egypt, Lower Egypt and Border Land. An All
Rural Population Index and separate indices for Upper Egypt and Lower
Egypt are also published. Detailed sub-groups are published for
all these series.
Organisation and publication
Central Agency for Public Mobilisation and Statistics, Monthly
Bulletin of Consumer Price Index
, Cairo.