Items are selected on the basis of the survey. They must be commonly bought by Mauritian households, normally available for pricing in shops or markets and available for some years to come in order to ensure continuity. The weights of items which are not priced are simply redistributed over identical items of that commodity sub-group.
| Major groups | Number of items | Weights | Approximate number of price quotations |
|---|---|---|---|
| Food and beverages | 76 | 419 | 1964 |
| Alcoholic beverages and tobacco | 6 | 72 | 138 |
| Clothing and footwear | 37 | 84 | 275 |
| Housing and household operation | 53 | 135 | 525 |
| (of which gross rent) | (3) | (24) | (180) |
| Medical care and health expenses | 10 | 30 | 136 |
| Transport and communication | 11 | 93 | 94 |
| Recreation, entertainment, education & cultural services | 20 | 60 | 158 |
| Miscellaneous goods and services | 25 | 50 | 251 |
| Total | 241 | 1000 | 3566 |
The localities for price data collection were chosen not only to represent both urban and rural regions, but also in relation to their importance as shopping centres. For urban regions, all five municipal council areas (Port-Louis, Rose Hill, Quatre Bornes, Vacoas and Curepipe) were selected, while for the rural regions at least one major village was selected in the North, South, East, West and centre of the island.
The collection of price data is carried out by the staff of the Central Statistical Office.
Once the localities and outlets are selected, the statistician identifies the different items and varieties available in the outlets of each locality, such that most goods and services in the basket are priced in every locality.
Perishable goods such as fresh vegetables, fresh fruits, fresh meat and fish are priced each week in markets on a specific day.
Prices for all other goods and services are collected every month in all localities during the period from the 12th to the 18th.
Official tariffs are referred to for electricity, water, bus fares and telephone charges.
The free-market prices which are actually paid by consumers are used. Discounts and sale prices are taken into account but irregular sales such as liquidation sales are ignored.
No account is taken of black-market prices, hire-purchase or credit terms, second-hand purchases or trade-in of used goods and in part payment for new ones, or import prices.
rentcovers the rent actually paid by tenants excluding electricity, water and sewerage charges.
The rent index is computed each quarter in March, June, September and December from a survey of 180 households in rented accommodation. Of the 4,320 households covered by the 1986-87 household expenditure survey, 785 were living in rented accommodation. The sample of 180 was selected from these 785 households, systematically according to region and amount of rent paid. The survey of rented dwellings is undertaken using a special questionnaire.
Owner-occupied housing is not taken into account in the index. Data on rates and expenditure on maintenance and repairs were collected in the survey and these have been included in the index.
When new products appear on the market, their prices are collected for future use either when revising the basket of goods and services or when a substitute is needed due to the permanent disappearance of a product from the market.
When a product is no longer available, it is replaced by the nearest similar product on the market. The base price (fictitious) of this substitute is calculated in such a way that the current price relative of the substitute is the same as that of the product being replaced.
Price averages are calculated only for fresh vegetables, fruit, fish and meat collected from different outlets. Average prices are simple arithmetic means of all price quotations obtained.
Prices relatives are calculated by dividing current prices by base prices. If different varieties are used for an item, the price relative is calculated for each variety and weighted averages of price relatives are computed to obtain item indices.
The prices collected are carefully scrutinised at various levels to eliminate faulty reporting. If price data are missing, the previous month's price is used.
Annual Digest of Statistics(Rose Hill).
Ministry of Finance: Government
Gazette of Mauritius
(Rose Hill).