France
Official title
Indice des prix à la consommation des ménages urbains dont le
chef est ouvrier ou employé (Consumer Price Index for Urban
Households).
Scope
The index is compiled monthly and covers urban households of all
sizes, in which the head of the household is a wage or salary earner.
Official base
1980 = 100.
Source of weights
The weights are revised at the beginning of each calendar year using the
results of continuing family expenditure surveys conducted among 10,000
households and data on household accounts obtained from the system of
national accounts. The weights used to compute the indices for a given
year are based on the results of surveys carried out two years before
and updated to December of the preceding year. The number of items and
the weights used in 1992 are as follows:
Weights and composition
| Major groups
| Number of items
| Weights
| Approximate number of price quotations
|
| Food
| 91 | 22.67 | ...
|
| Clothing, footwear and household linen
| 59 | 8.36 | ...
|
| Furniture, furnishings, household goods, cleaning materials, tobacco, etc.
| 82 | 25.64 | ...
|
| Fuel and light
| 7 | 8.18 | ...
|
| Housing:
|
| Rent
| 1 | 7.74 | ...
|
| Water
| 1 | 0.76 | ...
|
| Maintenance and repairs
| 3 | 1.22 | ...
|
| Personal and medical care
| 12 | 6.14 | ...
|
| Public transport and maintenance of vehicles
| 8 | 6.81 | ...
|
| Other services (incl. restaurants, etc.)
| 32 | 12.48 | ...
|
| Total
| 296 | 100.00 | 180000
|
Household consumption expenditure
Home-produced goods and services, second-hand purchases, hospital
services, social security contributions, used car insurance
premiums, sea and air transport, veterinary services, goods and
services for funerals and domestic services are not included in
the index, but indirect taxes (VAT) are included.
Method of data collection
Prices are collected by agents from 30,000 retail outlets and
service establishments in 108 urban centres with more than 2,000
inhabitants. They are collected monthly for most goods and
services, quarterly for clothing and furnishings and twice a
month for fresh products. Mail-order sales are not covered. The
prices collected are those actually paid by consumers.
Housing
Rent quotations are obtained for all types of dwellings during the first
month of a quarter, using a special household survey. Owner-occupied
dwellings are excluded from the index.
Specification of varieties
Specifications are detailed. The price collector chooses the specific
product for regular price collection in each retail outlet.
Substitution, quality change, etc.
If the quality of an item changes, either it is replaced by a
similar item assuming that there is no price change, or the
quality change is measured and isolated from the price change.
New items are introduced only when their sales become important.
Seasonal items
Seasonal fluctuations in the prices of fresh products are taken into
account by varying items and item weights within monthly
baskets of constant group weights and by using a 12-month moving
average.
Computation
The index is a chain index, in which the weights are changed at the
beginning of each calendar year. The index for each month is first
computed on base December of the preceding year = 100; the resulting
index is then calculated on base 1980 = 100 (Laspeyres' chain index).
Other information
Detailed sub-groups and various other groups are published, as are
consumer price index estimates for various social and
occupational categories of heads of households (base 1970 = 100),
and a series for greater Paris.
Organisation and publication
Institut national de la statistique et des études économiques
(INSEE): Bulletin mensuel de statistique
(Paris).
Idem: Informations rapides
.
Idem: Pour comprendre l'indice des prix
.