Kuwait
Official title
Consumer Price Index Numbers.
Scope
The index is compiled monthly and comprises all private
households including one-person households.
Official base
1978 = 100.
Source of weights
The weights and selected items were derived from the 1977-78 household
budget survey.
Weights and composition
| Major groups
| Number of items
| Weights
| Approximate number of price quotations
|
| Food
| 192 | 357.09 | 2484
|
| Beverages and tobacco
| 8 | 12.70 | 85
|
| Clothing and footwear
| 67 | 99.55 | 323
|
| Housing
| 14 | 187.03 | 25
|
| Household goods and services
| 119 | 110.23 | 646
|
| Transport and communication
| 73 | 152.91 | 105
|
| Education and medical care
| 55 | 25.49 | 365
|
| Other goods and services
| 72 | 55.00 | 291
|
| Total
| (a) 600 | 1000.00 | 4324
|
Note: (a) Varieties representing about 260 items.
Household consumption expenditure
Consumption expenditure for the purpose of the index comprises
all the important goods and services purchased for consumption by
the index population. It excludes income taxes, investment and
savings, and other non-consumption expenditure.
Method of data collection
Price data are obtained from the relevant retail outlets which
were chosen on the basis of the extent to which they are
patronised by the consumers. The Ministry of Trade and Industry
provides price quotations for all subsidised items.
Prices are collected by personal visits of trained staff
members, once a month for most of the items, twice a month for fresh
fruit and vegetables and each quarter for services. For services
provided by government agencies such as transport, postal
services, education, health, etc., the necessary changes are made as
and when the rates are revised.
Housing
Rent quotations are provided by the Annual Survey of House Rents
conducted by the Central Statistical Office.
Specification of varieties
Detailed specifications are provided for each item included in
the market basket. A specification gives a complete
description of the item, its brand name or trade mark, country of
origin, type of packing, quantity or unit, etc. Only the
important specifications for each item are included in the price
index calculation.
Substitution, quality change, etc.
Quality changes are not taken into account. Every effort is made to
secure price quotations for the same item-specifications for which base
year prices are available to minimise the influence of quality changes
on the index.
Seasonal items
Fresh fruit and vegetables are treated as seasonal items.
Each month, a typical market seasonal basket is
constructed for fresh fruit and vegetables. Prices are collected
for all items in the basket and compared with the prices for the
same month of the base year.
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 variety is calculated by
dividing the price for the current period by the price for the base
period. The index for an item is then calculated as an average
of the variety price relatives. In the case of those items
available at subsidised as well as free market prices, price
relatives are obtained as weighted averages, weights being
proportional to the quantities sold at subsidised and free market
prices. Also, for some items which are not subsidised, weighted
average price relatives are compiled by assigning weights to
important varieties.
Other information
Detailed sub-group indices are published for 13 months.
Organisation and publication
Ministry of Planning, Central Statistical Office: Monthly Price
Index Number
(Kuwait).
Idem: Consumer Price Index Number, Revised Series 1978 = 100,
Scope and Method of Construction
(Kuwait).