Madagascar (Antananarivo)
Official title
Indice des prix de détail à la consommation familiale malgache (Retail
Price Index - Malagasy).
Scope
The index is compiled monthly and relates to Malagasy households in
Antananarivo.
Official base
August 1971-July 1972 = 100.
Source of weights
The weights and selected items were derived from a household expenditure
survey conducted from March 1968 to February 1969 among Malagasy
households of all sizes and categories in Antananarivo.
The items used in computing the index are all items with a market
value to which a specific unit and quality can be assigned and whose
price over time is easy to observe. These items have a relative share
in total expenditure that is equal to or higher than 0.05 per cent for
the Malagasy index
.
Weights and composition
| Major groups
| Number of items
| Weights
| Approximate number of price quotations
|
| Food
| 60 | 603.5 | 3636
|
| Fuel and light
| 8 | 91.4 | 140
|
| Clothing and footwear
| 15 | 85.5 | 144
|
| Household goods
| 3 | 4.1 | 56
|
| Cleaning materials
| 5 | 20.3 | 292
|
| Personal and medical care
| 20 | 38.6 | 988
|
| Domestic services
| 1 | 18.2 | 1
|
| Miscellaneous
| 19 | 138.4 | 390
|
| Total
| 131 | 1000.0 | 5647
|
Household consumption expenditure
Own-consumption is taken into account in computing the weights. No
account is taken of rent expenditure or owner-occupied housing.
Expenditure on the following items is also excluded: durable goods,
education, insurance other than for vehicles, contributions, gifts,
income tax and other taxes, fines, transfers, personal goods and
miscellaneous expenditure. Wages paid for domestic services (not taking
account of benefits in kind) and the running expenses and insurance of
private vehicles are included.
Method of data collection
Price observation is limited to a certain number of shops selected so as
to correspond to the population covered by the index and to reflect the
size of the reference population which makes its purchases there. The
shops are selected empirically, taking account of the site, type or
category of shop and of the distribution of the reference population.
The number and the distribution of the shops vary according to the group
of items.
The prices of food items and cleaning materials are collected in 20
shops in the town centre and in areas where there is quite a large
Malagasy population.
The prices of certain food items such as poultry and fresh fruit and
vegetables are obtained during the first, second and fourth weeks of
each month by direct purchase by agents in two important weekly public
markets. The prices of the other items are collected by means of
questionnaires sent each month to some 40 retail shops and service
establishments.
Data on domestic services are obtained once a year by means of a
special survey of a sample of households. The list of these households
is brought up to date every year by reference to the list of employers
provided by the Caisse Nationale de Prévoyance Sociale (national social
insurance fund).
Housing
Rent is not included as an index item, nor was it taken into account in
determining the weights.
Specification of varieties
Items are specified and defined by the terms most familiar to
tradespeople and buyers and which influence the price (type, quality,
size, weight, country of origin, etc.). The method of acquiring the
items is also one of the factors included in the specifications,
and is provided on the basis of the behaviour of the reference
households. For items that are not homogeneous, especially manufactured
goods, the definitions are not strict but each shop is obliged to give
the price for the same variety of item.
Substitution, quality change, etc.
If a shop closes down or changes its activity, a comparable substitute
is sought, if possible in the same area.
If an item disappears from the market and an equivalent cannot
be found, but a similar one has already been introduced in the
index, the weight of the item that has disappeared is attributed to the
similar item. If a similar item has not been introduced and a
substitute cannot be found, its weight is distributed among the various
items of the same group.
In most cases, the disappearance of an item leads to the appearance
of a new one. Generally, therefore, there is a certain period when the
prices of the two items can be collected and when the difference in
quality and price can be evaluated so that the link does not conceal the
real difference in price. The new item is not incorporated in
the index until its sales volume has become fairly significant.
Seasonal items
Seasonal fluctuations in the prices of fresh fruit and vegetables are
taken into
account by shifting the monthly item weights within the constant group
weights.
Computation
The index is computed according to the Laspeyres formula as a weighted
arithmetic average with fixed base, using weights corresponding to
March 1968-February 1969.
Organisation and publication
Ministère des Finances, Direction générale de la Banque de données de
l'Etat: Bulletin mensuel de statistique
(Antananarivo).
Idem: Situation économique
.
Direction générale du gouvernement, Direction de l'Institut
national de la statistique et de la recherche économique:
L'établissement des nouveaux indices des prix de détail à la
consommation familiale à Tananarive, base août 1971 à juillet
1972 = 100
(Antananarivo).