Moldova, Rep. of
Official title
Consumer Price Index.
Scope
The index is computed monthly for the whole country.
Official base
For computation: December of previous year = 100.
For publication: previous month = 100, corresponding month of
the previous year = 100, December of previous year = 100.
Sources of weights
The weights are derived from the 1995 household expenditure
survey. The survey is representative of all private households
in Moldova. Each month it covers 660 randomly selected
households who stay in the sample for one month.
Weights and composition
| Major groups | Number of items | Weights | Approx. No. of price
quotations
|
| Food | ... | ... | ...
|
| Non-food | ... | ... | ...
|
| Services | ... | ... | ...
|
| Total | 1,500 | 100.0 | ...
|
Household consumption expenditure
Consumption expenditure used to derive the weights relates to
goods and services purchased, used or paid by the reference
population during the period of the survey. Consumption from own
production, life insurance payments and direct taxes are not
taken into account.
Sample selection
Items with the greatest share in household consumption and whose
price changes are representative of the items not included in the
index are selected for pricing.
Method of data collection
Prices for 1,500 basic goods and services are collected monthly
from about 750 representative outlets located in 11 towns and
regional centres. Prices for food stuff are collected 4 times a
month, twice a month for non-food items. Price collection in
shops is spread from Tuesday to Friday, and in open markets it is
from Thursday to Sunday.
Housing
Owner occupied housing is not included in the index.
Specification of varieties
All items to be priced are described in detail, with
specifications of their qualitative, quantitative and volume
parameters.
Substitution, quality changes
Not available.
Seasonal items
Not available.
Computation
The index is computed according to the Laspeyres formula as a
weighted arithmetic average with fixed base, using weights
corresponding to 1995. The average price of an item is computed
as a simple arithmetic mean of the prices obtained for that item.
The index is computed since January 1991.
Other information
None.
Organisation and publication
The Department of Statistical and Sociological Analysis of the
Republic of Moldova
The Principal Section of Price Statistics and
International Comparability of the DSSA