Morocco
Official title
Indice du coût de la vie (Cost of Living Index).
Scope
The index is compiled monthly and relates to low-income group families
in eight major cities.
Official base
May 1972-April 1973 = 100.
Source of weights
The weights and selected items were derived from a household expenditure
survey conducted in 1970-71 among low-income group families in eight
major cities of the country.
:hp4.Weights and composition:ehp4.
| Major groups
| Number of items
| Weights
| Approximate number of price quotations
|
| Food
| 83 | 54.0 | ...
|
| Tobacco
| 1 | 1.9 | ...
|
| Housing:
|
| Rent
| 1 | 5.8 | ...
|
| Maintenance and repairs
| 2 | 1.2 | ...
|
| Fuel, light and water
| 7 | 3.0 | ...
|
| Furniture and household linen
| 14 | 2.1 | ...
|
| Household equipment
| 21 | 1.5 | ...
|
| Clothing and footwear
| 34 | 8.5 | ...
|
| Cleaning materials, personal and medical care
| 19 | 5.5 | ...
|
| Transport and communication
| 12 | 6.9 | ...
|
| Education, recreation and miscellaneous
| 16 | 9.6 | ...
|
| Total
| 210 | 100.0 | ...
|
Household consumption expenditure
Not available.
Method of data collection
Prices are collected by agents from retail outlets and service
establishments in eight major cities. The frequency of price collection
depends on the price variability of the item.
Housing
Data on rent are obtained each quarter from a sample of three- and
four-room dwellings in moderately priced neighbourhoods.
Specification of varieties
The specifications describe the quality and brand name.
Substitution, quality change, etc.
If an item is temporarily unavailable on the market, its last price is
used if the price of similar products has not varied significantly;
otherwise, the estimated price of the product is based on the
price changes of similar products. If an item has disappeared
permanently, it is replaced by a similar one or, if there is none, by an
item of differing quality. In this case, a linking factor is applied,
which is based on the prices observed for both products (the one that
has disappeared and the new one) during the same period, on comparative
production costs, on a product equally satisfactory for the consumer or
on the development of an econometric model to determine quality
differences.
Seasonal items
Seasonal fluctuations in the prices of fresh fruit and vegetables are
taken into account by shifting monthly item weights within constant
group weights and by using a three-month moving average in computing the
final index.
Computation
The index is computed according to the Laspeyres formula as a weighted
arithmetic average with fixed base, using weights corresponding to
1970-71.
Other information
Separate indices are also published separately for Agadir, Casablanca,
Fes, Kénitra, Marrakesh, Oujda, Rabat and Tetouan.
Organisation and publication
Premier Ministre, Secrétariat d'Etat au plan et au développement
régional, Direction de la statistique: Bulletin mensuel de
statistiques
(Rabat).
Idem: Bulletin méthodologique trimestriel
, nouvelle série
no. 3 (Rabat).