Guatemala
Official title
Indice de los precios al consumidor para la República de
Guatemala - áreas urbanas (Consumer Price Index for the Republic
of Guatemala - Urban Areas).
Scope
The index is computed monthly and covers all urban households.
Official base
March-April 1983 = 100.
Source of weights
The weights and selected items were derived from a national household
expenditure survey conducted during November 1979-August 1981, covering
a sample of 4,800 households in the central urban area and 2,678
households in the remaining urban areas of the country. A household
comprises two or more persons sharing a family dwelling or part of one,
and whose consumption of food and other goods is financed from the same
budget. The weights were adjusted to take account of price changes
between the survey period and March-April 1983.
Weights and composition
Guatemala city
| Major groups
| Number of items
| Weights
| Approximate number of price quotations
|
| Food
| 99 | 42.25 | ...
|
| Rent, water, repairs and maintenance
| 6 | 9.94 | ...
|
| Fuel and light
| 6 | 4.73 | ...
|
| Furniture, household equipment and domestic services
| 24 | 7.82 | ...
|
| Clothing and footwear
| 30 | 10.07 | ...
|
| Medical care
| 7 | 2.71 | ...
|
| Education
| 6 | 2.44 | ...
|
| Transport and communications
| 17 | 11.59 | ...
|
| Reading and recreation
| 7 | 4.20 | ...
|
| Other goods and services
| 11 | 4.25 | ...
|
| Total
| 213 | 100.00 | ...
|
Remaining urban areas
| Food
| 91 | 57.27 | ...
|
| Rent, water, repairs and maintenance
| 5 | 4.74 | ...
|
| Fuel and light
| 5 | 7.92 | ...
|
| Furniture, household equipment and domestic services
| 15 | 5.96 | ...
|
| Clothing and footwear
| 27 | 10.35 | ...
|
| Medical care
| 4 | 2.09 | ...
|
| Education
| 4 | 0.98 | ...
|
| Transport and communications
| 10 | 5.78 | ...
|
| Reading and recreation
| 3 | 1.75 | ...
|
| Other goods and services
| 7 | 3.16 | ...
|
| Total
| 171 | 100.00 | ...
|
Household consumption expenditure
Not available.
Method of data collection
The prices of food items are collected each week in the seven
regions. Prices for furniture, clothing, water
and fuel are obtained each month and those for medical care,
education, reading material, recreation, transport and communication
each quarter. Prices are collected by mail questionnaires
from markets, supermarkets, retail outlets and service
establishments in the seven urban regions.
Housing
Rent data are obtained each quarter, with 589 quotations for Guatemala
city and 60 for the other regions. Owner-occupied housing is not taken
into account in the index.
Specification of varieties
The specifications are based on consumer habits and take account of the
variety, quality, brand and unit.
Substitution, quality change, etc.
If an item disappears permanently from the market, it is
replaced by an item with the same characteristics. If a
quality change occurs, the necessary adjustments are made using
a linking method.
Seasonal items
Not available.
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.
The price relative for each item is computed by dividing the
average price for the current period by the average price for the
base period.
Organisation and publication
Ministerio de Economía, Dirección General de Estadística:
Informador Estadístico
(Guatemala).
Idem: Anuario Estadístico
.
Idem: Metodología de los índices de precios al consumidor
para la República de Guatemala, base marzo-abril de 1983 = 100
(March 1983).