Lesotho
Official title
Consumer Price Index for Low-Income Households.
Scope
The index is compiled quarterly and covers all urban low-income
group households.
Official base
April 1989 = 100.
Source of weights
The weights and selected items were derived from a household expenditure
survey conducted between October 1986 and September 1987 among all
population groups (excluding institutions) in all geographical areas.
The selection of sample units in this survey was based on a
two-stage nationwide stratified sample covering 4,800 rural
and 2,880 urban households. The nation was divided
into districts and four aggro-ecological zones, with 24
strata in the rural areas and 14 strata in the urban areas, with three
strata for Maseru alone. In urban Maseru, neighbourhoods were
assigned to a high-, middle- or low-income strata on the basis of
the external characteristics of dwellings in order to further
improve the design. Sampling was proportional to size within
each stratum. In the urban areas, eight households were selected
each month as an optimum workload for each enumerator, and five
households were selected in the rural areas as an optimum
workload for each enumerator.
The index relates to low-income households comprising all households
with a monthly income of less than 200 Maloti. The weights were not
adjusted to take into account price changes between the survey period
and April 1989.
The item selection criteria was based on total expenditure, and the
weights for items not priced were spliced within the
relevant groups and sub-groups when elementary aggregates were
constructed.
Weights and composition
| Major groups
| Number of items
| Weights
| Approximate number of price quotations
|
| Food and tobacco
| 108 | 76.3 | 552
|
| Clothing and footwear
| 46 | 13.9 | 148
|
| Gross rent, fuel and light
| 25 | 12.4 | 58
|
| Furniture, furnishings and household operation
| 49 | 10.0 | 171
|
| Transport and communication
| 16 | 3.9 | 32
|
| Other goods and services
| 48 | 7.1 | 139
|
| Total
| 292 | 100.0 | 1100
|
Household consumption expenditure
Consumption expenditure is defined as in the national accounts.
This means that some adjustments were made to the weights from the
household expenditure survey. Consumption in kind
and the imputed consumption expenditure on home-ownership were
included in the weights.
Method of data collection
Prices are collected by agents in January, April, July and
October from about 170 retail outlets and service establishments
distributed over six towns. In Maseru, prices are collected on
Monday to Friday in the first week of the survey month, and in
the other towns, on Monday to Friday in the third week of the
survey month. The prices used in the index are the prices actually
paid. Discounts and sale prices are included if they are
offered to the general public and not only to a selected group.
Hire-purchase or credit terms, second-hand purchases and import
prices are not used.
Housing
Rent quotations are obtained each quarter, and include rental charges
and cost of repairs and redecoration. Owner-occupied dwellings are
valued at the existing rental charges for similar types of housing.
Specification of varieties
The specifications include as many characteristics as are necessary for
the different price collectors to obtain almost identical varieties in
the different outlets. For example, they include the type, variety,
name, origin, size, brand, packaging, etc. However, the price collector
is free to choosing the product in the selected outlet.
Substitution, quality change, etc.
Substitutions are made with almost similar quality. If new
products appear and prove popular on the market, they are
ultimately spliced into the relevant group or item. If an
item disappears from the market, a new substitute is selected.
Seasonal items
For seasonal items such as fresh fruit and vegetables 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 October 1986-September 1987.
Price relatives are first calculated for each price
quotation, variety and item using the price relatives
for the current and previous periods.
Weighted indexes are calculated for sub-groups, main groups and all
items with base, previous period = 100. They are then converted to
base, April 1989 = 100.
Other information
Consumer price indices for all urban-all income groups is
published as well as a series for Maseru high-income group.
Organisation and publication
Bureau of Statistics: Statistical Reports - Consumer Price
Index
(Maseru).
Idem: Lesotho - Consumer Price Index
.