Greenland
Official title
Consumer Price Index for Greenland.
Scope
The index is compiled twice a year and relates to resident
households in towns and settlements in Greenland.
Official base
January 1981 = 100.
Source of weights
The weights were derived from the statistics of the supply of
goods and services for private consumption for the year 1985.
The sources were import statistics, sales from the Greenland Trade
Company and, with regard to inland production and services,
information collected from a sample of 195 private households in
1985. The weight for rent is based on information from the
Danish Ministry for Greenland and local administration, as 60
per cent of the rented dwellings are publicly owned by the
Greenland Home Rule or municipalities. For owner-occupied
dwellings, the costs are calculated as rental equivalents. For
energy items, the weights were derived from information from the
Technical Organisation for Greenland. The weights were adjusted
to take into account price changes between the
survey year and January 1987, when the new weights were first
applied.
The sample of items priced was adjusted for changes since the
previous revision in 1977-78.
Weights and composition
| Major groups
| Number of items
| Weights
| Approximate number of price quotations
|
| Food
| 139 | 18.62 | 1129
|
| Beverages
| 20 | 11.44 | 84
|
| Tobacco
| 7 | 7.13 | 30
|
| Gross rent (housing)
| 5 | 10.01 | 23
|
| Fuel and light
| 7 | 5.40 | 7
|
| Clothing and footwear
| 50 | 7.69 | 332
|
| Furniture, household equipment, etc.
| 64 | 9.21 | 279
|
| Medical Care
| 6 | 0.29 | 18
|
| Transport
| 11 | 4.86 | 32
|
| Communication
| 4 | 3.28 | 11
|
| Trapping, fishing, etc.
| 16 | 2.99 | 56
|
| Other hobbies and recreational expenses
| 32 | 12.47 | 110
|
| Miscellaneous goods and services
| 32 | 6.61 | 231
|
| Total
| 393 | 100.00 | (a) 2342
|
Note: (a) Excluding the rent survey.
Household consumption expenditure
Consumption is defined as the total private consumption of goods
and services in Greenland. Income in kind is not included.
Direct taxes are excluded. There are no contributions to social
insurances and pension funds. Health care is public and
free of charge and is not included in the weighting system.
Insurance fees associated with specific items such as houses(fire) and
cars are included. Other insurances, subscriptions and similar
disbursements, covering about 1.7 per cent of total consumption, are not
included. Home ownership has an additional weight for property in
Denmark.
Method of data collection
Prices are collected mainly by mailed questionnaires or from
official tariffs. Prices for goods are obtained twice a year
from the Greenland Trade Company (publicly owned by the Home Rule),
six co-operative societies and about 50 private retailers. Public
tariffs for electricity, water, heating, etc. are supplied by the
Technical Organisation and the municipalities. Tariffs for services are
received from seven municipalities, the Technical Organisation, an
insurance company and a few other reporting units.
Price data refer to the first week in January and July.
The prices used are the regular prices paid by any member
of the public (i.e. market prices).
Housing
Rent is the gross rent inclusive of fees for water and the
removal of refuse. As 60 per cent of dwellings are rented
dwellings owned by the Greenland Home Rule or the municipalities,
information on rent changes is collected from administrative
sources. Rents for existing dwellings are regulated once a year
in October, normally with a general percentage
increase per square metre. For new dwellings, a supplementary
calculation is based on the increase in building costs. Costs for
owner-occupied dwellings do not normally change, as fees for
water, the removal of refuse, etc. are dealt with separately.
Supplementary information for new or purchased dwellings is
collected and enters into the calculation based on the increase
in building costs. Costs for maintenance are dealt with as
separate items.
Specification of varieties
There are detailed specifications for each item, describing
the quality, make, brand and unit.
Substitution, quality change, etc.
New products are only introduced in the index compilation if
they are substitutes for existing products. Quality changes andthe
disappearance of a given type or quality from the market are
treated in the same way by using the method of overlapping
periods
.
e.g. if a radio of a certain make and quality is
sold until July 1984, the new model that replaces it was
normally introduced on the market in advance. This
means that the price for the new model can be linked to the
index for July 1984 for the old model.
Seasonal items
There is no special treatment of seasonal items. Items subject
to very large seasonal fluctuations are not included in the
index.
Computation
The index is computed according to the Laspeyres formula as a
weighted arithmetic average with fixed base, using weights
corresponding to 1985.
Other information
Detailed sub-group indices are published for these series.
Danmarks Statistik also computes a price index net of import
duties called Reguleringspristallet for Gronland
.
In general, this index is used for indexation purposes in private
contracts. It was previously used for regulating wages and
salaries but this practise has been discontinued.
Organisation and publication
Danmarks Statistik: Nyt fra Danmarks Statistik
(Copenhagen).
Idem: Statistike Efterretninger
(Serien om Faeroerne og
Gronland) (Copenhagen).
Idem: Statistik Aarbog
.
Idem: Statistik tiaarsoversigt
.