Gibraltar
Official title
Index of Retail Prices.
Scope
The index is compiled monthly for the food group and quarterly
for other groups. The index relates to all types of
households permanently resident in Gibraltar.
Official base
October 1980 = 100.
Source of weights
The weights and selected items were derived from a household expenditure
survey conducted between February 1979 and March 1980, covering about
221 sample households.
Weights and composition
| Major groups
| Number of items
| Weights
| Approximate number of price quotations
|
| Food
| 104 | 330.67 | ...
|
| Beverages and tobacco
| 9 | 59.56 | ...
|
| Clothing and footwear
| 39 | 110.00 | ...
|
| Durable household goods
| 26 | 100.42 | ...
|
| Rent
| 12 | 125.90 | ...
|
| Services
| 24 | 75.39 | ...
|
| Transport and vehicles
| 17 | 133.29 | ...
|
| Miscellaneous
| 44 | 64.77 | ...
|
| Total
| 294 | 1000.00 | ...
|
Household consumption expenditure
Consumption expenditure for the purpose of the index includes
almost all important goods and services purchased for consumption
by the index population. It excludes income taxes and other direct
taxes, social insurance contributions, savings and investment,
contributions to pension funds and betting.
Method of data collection
Prices are collected by agents during the few days of
each month. Prices for food items are collected each month
from about 30 retail outlets.
Price for other items are collected each quarter from up to
five outlets for each item.
The prices used to calculate the index are the prices actually
charged to the consumer.
Housing
Rent data are obtained from government-owned properties and from
a sample of approximately 100 private dwellings.
Specification of varieties
The specifications of items to be priced are given in terms of
brand, make, quality and size, etc.
Substitution, quality change, etc.
If a new item is substituted in the index, its price is collected
for three months and an average base price is calculated.
Seasonal items
Seasonality does not generally affect the availability of goods in
Gibraltar.
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.
Price relatives for the current and base periods are used in
computing item indices.
Organisation and publication
The index is compiled by the Economic Planning and Statistics
Office (Gibraltar).
Government Printer: Gibraltar Gazette
(The all-item
index is published quarterly and the food group index monthly).