Malawi (Blantyre 1)
Official title
Retail Price Index for Low-Income Group Families.
Scope
The index is compiled monthly and covers households in Blantyre with
monthly expenditure below 100 kwachas during 1979-80.
Official base
1980 = 100.
Source of weights
The weights and selected items were derived from an urban household
expenditure survey conducted in 1979-80 covering 4,000 households in
Blantyre, Lilongwe, Zomba and Mzuzu. The index relates to low-income
group families with monthly expenditure below 100 kwachas during the
period of the survey.
Weights and composition
| Major groups
| Number of items
| Weights
| Approximate number of price quotations
|
| Food
| 34 | 500 | 102
|
| Beverages and tobacco
| 7 | 39 | 21
|
| Clothing and footwear
| 24 | 154 | 72
|
| Housing
| 14 | 108 | 42
|
| Household operation
| 7 | 86 | 21
|
| Transportation
| 8 | 48 | 8
|
| Miscellaneous
| 14 | 65 | 42
|
| Total
| 108 | 1000 | 308
|
Household consumption expenditure
Consumption expenditure for the purpose of the index refers to all money
expenditure by households on goods and services intended for
consumption, including repayment of loans.
Income in kind and imputed rent of owner-occupied dwellings are
excluded.
Method of data collection
Prices are collected by agents from markets, selected retail outlets and
service establishments in Blantyre. For items sold in markets, prices
are collected three times a month and for all other items, prices are
ascertained on the Tuesday or Friday nearest the 15th of each month.
Price quotations are used for all items, except for vegetables, fruit
and fish, where prices are obtained by direct buying.
The prices used to calculate the index are the regular prices paid
by any member of the public. Sale, discount and reduced prices are not
used.
Housing
Rent and owner-occupied housing costs are not included in the index, nor
were they taken into account in determining the weights.
Specification of varieties
Detailed specifications are given for each item, describing the variety,
quality, make, brand and unit.
Substitution, quality change, etc.
When a product is no longer available, a similar product to the original
is substituted and a method of linking is used.
Seasonal items
Prices of seasonal items are estimated during their off season.
Computation
The index is computed according to the Laspeyres formula as a weighted
arithmetic average with fixed base, using weights corresponding to
1979-80.
At least three price quotations are obtained for each item to
calculate average prices.
Other information
The National Statistical Office also compiles and publishes series
relating to medium- and high-income group households in Blantyre and
Lilongwe and to low- and medium-income group households in Zomba and
Mzuzu. In addition, Blantyre and Lilongwe are combined to arrive at a
composite index for the two cities.
Organisation and publication
National Statistical Office: Monthly Statistical Bulletin
(Zomba).