New Caledonia (Noumea)
Official title
Indice des prix de détail à la consommation (Consumer Price Index).
Scope
The index is computed monthly and covers urban households of wage
earners and salaried employees in the private and public sectors
(excluding wage earners in agriculture).
Official base
August 1975 = 100.
Source of weights
The weights and selected items were derived from a household expenditure
survey conducted in 1968-69 among households of different social classes
and ethnic groups in urban, mining and rural areas (excluding
Melanesians living in rural areas). The weights relate to wage earners
and salaried employees in the private and public sectors (excluding wage
earners in agriculture). The 1975 weights were obtained by
extrapolation based on price changes between 1969 and the end of 1974.
Weights and composition
| Major groups
| Number of items
| Weights
| Approximate number of price quotations
|
| Food
| 245 | 37.00 | ...
|
| Manufactured items:
|
| Clothing, footwear and household linen
| 114 | 7.00 | ...
|
| Fuel and light
| 4 | 7.00 | ...
|
| Furnishings, household equipment and other items
| 174 | 20.50 | ...
|
| Services:
|
| Rent, water, maintenance
| 14 | 15.70 | ...
|
| Personal and medical care
| 24 | 3.30 | ...
|
| Transport and communication
| 29 | 5.25 | ...
|
| Education and recreation
| 10 | 1.15 | ...
|
| Meals taken outside the home
| 6 | 2.00 | ...
|
| Miscellaneous
| 20 | 1.10 | ...
|
| Total
| 640 | 100.00 | 5500
|
Household consumption expenditure
All money expenditure by households is included. Rent-free
dwellings, owner-occupied dwellings, gifts, social security
contributions, direct taxes and charges as well as consumption of
own-produced commodities are excluded.
Method of data collection
Prices are collected between the 2nd and the 25th of each month,
by agents, from approximately 250 retail outlets and service
establishments in Nouméa. Prices for electricity (collected
twice a year for a standard consumption), water, gas, transport,
medical care, etc., are those fixed by rates or regulations.
Clearance sales are not taken into account.
Housing
Rent quotations are obtained from 10 specialised agencies and
relate to about 80 dwellings (mainly subsidised housing).
Specification of varieties
Detailed specifications of varieties for each item
describe the quality, make, brand, unit, etc.
Substitution, quality change, etc.
If an item disappears from the market, it is replaced by a similar item
using the linking method. If there is a quality change, the linking
method is applied.
Seasonal items
Seasonal fluctuations in the prices of fresh fruit and vegetables are
taken into account by maintaining the closing price from the preceding
season during the off season and by using 12-month moving averages for
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 the base period.
Organisation and publication
Direction territoriale de la statistique et des études
économiques: Indice des prix de détail,
Nouvelle-Calédonie
(Nouméa).