Spain
Official title
Indice de precios de consumo (Consumer Price Index).
Scope
The index is compiled monthly and covers families of two or more
persons, with annual incomes of between 322,575 and 2,000,000
pesetas at the time of the household expenditure survey (April 1980 to
March 1981).
Official base
1983 = 100.
Source of weights
The weights and selected items were derived from a household expenditure
survey conducted between April 1980 and March 1981 among a sample of
24,000 households throughout the country.
Weights and composition
| Major groups
| Number of items
| Weights
| Approximate number of price quotations
|
| Food and tobacco
| 171 | 330 | ...
|
| Clothing and footwear
| 56 | 87 | ...
|
| Housing
| 24 | 186 | ...
|
| Furnishings, household equipment and domestic services
| 56 | 74 | ...
|
| Medical care
| 18 | 24 | ...
|
| Transport and communication
| 26 | 144 | ...
|
| Education and recreation
| 40 | 70 | ...
|
| Other goods and services
| 37 | 85 | ...
|
| Total
| 428 | 1000 | 146000
|
Household consumption expenditure
Consumption expenditure for the purpose of the index comprises all
goods and services purchased for consumption by the index population.
It includes consumption of own-produced goods, payments of insurance
premiums and taxes for cars. It excludes direct and indirect taxes,
special materials and expenditure concerning professional activities,
gambling, veterinary care, loan interest payments and loan repayments,
remittances, gifts and similar payments.
Method of data collection
Prices are collected by agents in market areas, supermarkets, other
retail outlets and service establishments throughout the country.
Prices for perishable food items are collected four times a month in
certain important towns and twice a month in the other towns.
Prices for durable goods are obtained once a month and those for
electric household appliances once a quarter. Prices for fuel,
electricity, tobacco and telephone charges, which are uniform throughout
the country, are obtained from the Official Bulletin (Boletín Oficial
del Estado).
Housing
Rent quotations are obtained once a month from a sample of 3,000 rented
and 2,000 owner-occupied dwellings. Controlled rent prices are
collected once a year and the value of free rent is obtained once a
month.
Specification of varieties
The specifications of the varieties vary according to the item.
Generally, the description of variety takes into account the quality,
brand and unit, but not the date of manufacture.
Substitution, quality change, etc.
If an item disappears from the market or the quality changes, it is
substituted by a similar item. New items are introduced only when the
index is revised.
Seasonal items
Seasonal fluctuations in the prices of fresh fruit and vegetables
are taken into account by varying the items and item weights within
baskets of constant group weights.
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.
In computing item indices, the relatives of average prices are
calculated by dividing the average price for the current period by the
average price for the base period. Initially, the average prices are
calculated as simple arithmetic averages for each primary sampling
area unit. These average prices are then weighted using population
weights to arrive at average prices for the whole country.
Other information
Major groups are published.
Organisation and publication
Instituto Nacional de Estadística: Indice de Precios de Consumo
- Boletín Informativo
(Madrid).
Idem: Indicadores de coyuntura
Idem: Indice de precios de consumo, base 1983, Monografía
Tecnica
(Madrid, 1985).