Cayman Islands
Official title
Consumer Price Index.
Scope
The index is compiled four times a year, covering the months of
March, June, September and December, and relates to all residents
households in Grand Cayman and Cayman Brac.
Official base
September 1984 = 100.
Source of weights
The weights and selected items were derived from a household expenditure
survey conducted during April 1983-March 1984 among 234 private
households living in Grand Cayman and Cayman Brac. The average weekly
expenditure per household was 440 dollars at the time of the survey and
the average household size was 3.52 persons.
Weights and composition
| Major groups
| Number of items
| Weights
| Approximate number of price quotations
|
| Food
| 282 | 206.43 | 590
|
| Alcoholic drinks and and tobacco
| 56 | 31.46 | 133
|
| Housing:
|
| Rent
| 13 | 67.58 | 13
|
| Mortgage interest
| 1 | 36.98 | 3
|
| Repairs and maintenance and house insurance
| 70 | 27.90 | 83
|
| Fuel, light and water
| 16 | 45.01 | 24
|
| Clothing and footwear
| 160 | 39.21 | 242
|
| Furniture, furnishings and household equipment
| 200 | 57.85 | 222
|
| Transport and communications
| 59 | 178.68 | 84
|
| Education
| 29 | 24.35 | 32
|
| Medical care
| 29 | 56.89 | 48
|
| Recreation
| 93 | 178.90 | 115
|
| Personal goods and services
| 82 | 48.76 | 130
|
| Total
| 1090 | 1000.00 | 1719
|
Household consumption expenditure
Insurance associated with consumer goods and health costs is
included. Business expenditure, gifts and income in kind used
for household consumption are excluded.
Method of data collection
Prices are collected four times a year, in March, June, September and
December, from supermarkets, larger retail outlets and service
establishments in George Town and its immediate vicinity and on the
island of Cayman Brac. Prices obtained by agents are collected on
Tuesday, Wednesday or Thursday during the collection month. Prices for
a number of items, such as electricity, gas, water, medical care,
education, transport and communication, are collected centrally by the
Statistics Unit, by telephone or postal questionnaires. The cost of
loan repayments is allocated to major spending headings such as vehicles
or furniture.
For all the goods and services priced, the prices used to
calculate the index are those actually charged in cash
transactions. Charges made for credit are excluded and discounts
ignored unless they are available to everybody. List prices are
also ignored if the shop is selling at other than the list price.
Sale prices are only included when they represent a real price
reduction and are not being used as an incentive to sell stale,
damaged, shop-soiled or imperfect goods.
Housing
Specified houses and apartments with one, two or three bedrooms are
priced each quarter, including some privately-owned and some
government-owned. Interest payments are taken into account for
owner-occupied dwellings.
Specification of varieties
As the index measures changes in prices, in formation is
collected each quarter for exactly the same goods and services,
in the same quantity at the same outlet. The items whose prices
are recorded must remain constant throughout the period of the
index. Loose specifications are used for clothing and furniture
for which it is not possible to be more precise.
Substitution, quality change, etc.
A new item is spliced into the index if an old
one is not available for
three consecutive periods, using the ratio of the new item price
over the old item price to estimate a proxy base price for the
new item. Higher prices due to better quality are
discounted in the index except when the quantity of a specific
item is improved without any change to its description. New
products are not picked up (except in the above) and need to
wait for a revision of the index.
Proxy prices are calculated for a missing item using changes in
prices actually collected for that item. If no other prices are
available for an item, the average change for the three-digit group
heading is used. All of these proxies can be changed by the
statistician on inspection.
Seasonal items
No adjustments are made to seasonal fluctuations in item prices.
Computation
The index is computed according to the Laspeyres formula as a
weighted arithmetic average with fixed base, using weights
corresponding to April 1983-March 1984.
Prices are averaged within each five-digit item code. Grand
Cayman and Cayman Brac averages are calculated separately and
weighted together in proportion to their relative household
expenditure.
Other information
The index is published in about the middle of the month following the
reference month.
Sub-group indices are published for Food, Alcoholic drinks
and tobacco, Housing, Clothing, Durable household equipment,
Transport and communications, Education and medical expenses, and
Personal goods and services.
Organisation and publication
Department of Finance and Development, Statistics Unit:
Annual Abstract of Statistics
(Grand Cayman).
Idem: Annual Report of the Cayman Islands
.
Idem: Cayman Islands, A Guide to the new Consumer Price
Index
, February 1985.