Korea, Republic of
Official title
Consumer Price Index.
Scope
The index is computed monthly and relates to all types of urban
households except farmers', fishermen's, single persons and foreigners'
households.
Official base
1990 = 100.
Source of weights
The weights and selected items were derived from a household expenditure
survey conducted from January to December 1990 in 32 cities among 4,325
urban households of all types except those of farmers, fishermen, single
persons and foreigners households.
The items selected are those that account for more than 1/10,000 of
total household expenditure, which are representative of homogeneous
commodity groups and are available for continuous survey. However,
important items whose consumption is increasing are included even if
they represent less than 1/10,000 of the total expenditure. The weights
of items not priced are either distributed among similar items or
proportionately distributed into similar groups.
Weights and composition
| Major groups
| Number of items
| Weights
| Approximate number of price quotations
|
| Food
| 167 | 324.9 | 9469
|
| Housing
| 20 | 141.7 | 5309
|
| Fuel, light and water charges
| 9 | 45.3 | 292
|
| Furniture and utensils
| 62 | 62.0 | 3072
|
| Clothing and footwear
| 53 | 88.4 | 2664
|
| Medical care
| 27 | 54.5 | 1480
|
| Education, reading and recreation
| 71 | 142.4 | 2916
|
| Transport and communication
| 26 | 93.6 | 586
|
| Miscellaneous
| 35 | 47.2 | 1668
|
| Total
| 470 | 1000 | 27456
|
Household consumption expenditure
Included are second hand purchases, license fees, insurance associated
with specific consumer goods, health care, income-in-kind valued
at market prices, durable goods
credit purchases
and part payment for new ones are taken in their full amount. Gifts
and similar disbursements, religious contributions and membership fees
are excluded as well disbursements of life insurance premiums and
home ownership costs.
Method of data collection
Almost all items are priced by agents three times a month, the 5th, 15th
and 25th, regardless of any week day, from markets, retail outlets and
service establishments in 32 cities. School fees are collected
quarterly by mail questionnaires. Prices which are uniform throughout
the country (electricity, transport and communication) are obtained
centrally. Prices used for the calculation of the index refer to
regular prices paid by the consumers. Only cash prices are recorded;
hire-purchase and credit terms are not included. Also excluded are
sales prices, black market prices, second-hand purchases and the
trade-in of used goods and in part payment for new ones.
Housing
Two types of rent, lease on a deposit basis and monthly rent are treated
as different items. For each rent, the average rent relative within a
city is calculated by the simple average method. Next, the average rent
relative for all cities is being computed by applying city weights. The
cost of owner-occupied housing is excluded from the index.
Specification of varieties
The most selling specifications at retail shops are taken and are given
in terms of make, brand, unit and quantity.
Substitution, quality change, etc.
If the quality of an item changes, it may be directly substituted or
the splicing method is adopted. If a given type or quality disappears
from the market, it is substituted by a similar item.
Seasonal items
For seasonal items such as fresh fish, vegetables and
fruit that are not available on the market during the off season,
the last available prices are used for the index
calculation until new prices are 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 relatives for each item in each city are calculated
by dividing the average price for the current period by the
average price for the base period. Average prices are simple
arithmetic averages of prices obtained within each city. The
item indices for 32 cities are then weighted to arrive at an
item index for all cities.
Other information
Sub-indices for major items are published.
Organisation and publication
National Statistical Office: Consumer Price Index Monthly
(Seoul).
Idem: Annual Report on the Price Survey.
Idem: Monthly Statistics of Korea.
Idem: Korea Statistical Yearbook.