Haiti
Official title
Indice des prix à la consommation (Consumer Price Index -
metropolitan area).
Scope
The index is compiled monthly and relates to urban households in
the metropolitan area.
Official base
1980 = 100.
Source of weights
The weights and selected items were derived from a household expenditure
survey conducted in 1976, covering households in both urban and rural
areas. The expenditure of 747 households with two persons or more and
an annual family income equivalent to at least 250 gourdes was used to
calculate the weights for the index. The index covers urban households
in the metropolitan area of Port-au-Prince, Delmas, Carrefour and
Pétion-Ville. The weights were not adjusted to take into account price
changes between the survey period and 1980.
Weights and composition
| Major groups
| Number of items
| Weights
| Approximate number of price quotations
|
| Food
| 27 | 64.48 | ...
|
| Clothing and footwear
| 15 | 3.16 | ...
|
| Housing
| 6 | 11.71 | ...
|
| Furniture and furnishings
| 16 | 5.75 | ...
|
| Services
| 13 | 14.90 | ...
|
| Total
| 77 | 100.00 | ...
|
Household consumption expenditure
Consumption expenditure for the purpose of the index comprises
all goods and services purchased for consumption by the index
population. It excludes income tax, payments to savings,
insurance premiums, etc.
Method of data collection
Prices are collected by agents from selected retail outlets and
service establishments. The frequency of price collection and
the number of outlets selected depend on the nature of the
item. Food items are priced three times a week (Tuesday,
Thursday and Saturday) in the three main markets, and in
supermarkets and selected groceries. Prices for clothing,
furniture, furnishings and services are obtained during the first,
second and third weeks of each month.
Housing
Rent quotations are obtained in the first month of each quarter
from a sample of rented dwellings.
Specification of varieties
Not available.
Substitution, quality change, etc.
Not available.
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 1976.
Price relatives for varieties of each item are calculated by
dividing the average price of the variety for the current period
by its base period average price. Simple arithmetic
averages of these relatives are then computed to arrive at item
indices.
Organisation and publication
Département des finances et des affaires économiques, Institut
Haïtien de statistique: Bulletin trimestriel de statistique
(Port-au-Prince).
Ministère du plan, Institut Haïtien de statistique et
d'informatique, Division des statistiques générales: Indices
des prix à la consommation, base 100 en 1980
(Port-au-Prince,
June 1983).