Poland
Official title
Wskazniki cen towarow i uslug konsumpcyjnych (Consumer Price Index).
Scope
The index is computed and published monthly for the whole
population and for six socio-economic groups: households of
employees, households of employees-farmers, households of
farmers, households of the self-employed, households of retirees
and pensioners, households maintained from non-earned sources.
Official base
Previous month = 100; December of previous year = 100;
corresponding period of previous year = 100.
Sources of weights
Consumer expenditure from the household budget survey is the
basic source for deriving the weights. The survey is conducted
annually and covers about 30,000 randomly selected households
(about 0.3 % of households from all over the country)
representing about 98 % of all types of households in the
country. The sample is rotated on a monthly basis. The weights
for currently compiled price indices cover only domestic
expenditures of resident households and they do not take into
account expenditures of people living in institutions as well
households of foreigners.
Additional information is obtained from national accounts and
trade statistics. These are used for adjusting consumer
expenditure of households on alcoholic beverages, tobacco and
catering. Weights are updated annually.
Weights and composition
| Major groups | Number of Items | Weights | Approx. No. of price
quotation
|
| Food and non-alcoholic beverages | 95 | 34.0 | 236,000
|
| Alcoholic beverages and tobacco | 7 | 7.4 | 39,000
|
| Clothing and footwear | 22 | 9.2 | 46,000
|
| Housing | 19 | 18.8 | 17,000
|
| Transport | 14 | 6.1 | 14,000
|
| Other goods and services | 128 | 24.5 | 196,000
|
| Total | 285 | 100.0 | 548,000
|
COICOP (Classification of Individual Consumption by Purpose) is
used since January 1999.
Household consumption expenditure
Households consumption expenditure refers to the payments actually made
for goods and services during the reference period.
Consumption expenditure includes homeownership costs,
licence fees and health care expenditure. Home produced goods,
credit purchases of durable, second-hand purchases, income taxes
and other direct taxes, life insurance premiums, remittances,
gifts and similar disbursements, contributions to social
insurance and pension funds, savings, investments and credit
charges are excluded.
Sample selection
Selection of a sample of items, outlets and price regions is done
purposively.
Method of data collection
Prices of selected ca. 1,700 representative consumer goods
and services are surveyed between the first and the 26th day of
each month. The frequency of price collection depends on the
nature of the commodity. Prices for food items, non-alcoholic
beverages, catering, alcoholic beverages and tobacco are
collected three times a month and those for other goods and
services once a month. About 548,000 price quotations are
registered each month by 400 price collectors visiting
approximately 28,000 retail outlets located in 308 so-called
price survey regions. The price survey region is a town or a
part of a large city. The prices used include indirect taxes
(VAT and excise tax) since it is a part of the price that
consumers actually pay.
Housing
Information on rents is obtained by price collectors in offices
of housing associations or local authorities. The index does not
cover imputed rents for owner-occupied dwellings.
Specification of varieties
The list of goods and services selected for the survey covers two
types of representatives: those provided with detailed, precise
specifications such as the name, model (brand), quality, size,
material and other specific parameters, and narrow assortment of
clothes, underwear, footwear, etc., which are supplied onto the
market in short series whose specifications are more general.
For these items, the price collectors select particular variety
available on the local market.
Substitution, quality changes
No adjustments for quality changes have been done yet. Each year
the list of the representative items is reviewed before it is
finally accepted. The list comprises only those goods and
services which are supplied systematically, in sufficient
quantity and are commonly available on the market. In case of
major quality change, the observation of the item is suspended
until the annual verification procedure when it is replaced by a
new representative item.
Seasonal items
Seasonal fluctuations in the prices of potatoes, vegetables and
fruit are taken into account by varying their internal monthly
weights. The weight for the group including those goods is kept
constant throughout the year, but weights within the group are
changed monthly to reflect seasonal changes in consumption pattern.
Computation
The price index of an individual representative item in a price
survey region is computed by comparing its average monthly price
in a given month with its average price in the previous year.
The individual item price index at national level is computed as
a geometric mean of price indices for that item in all
regions. The same formula is used for calculating price indices
at the lowest level of aggregation. Price indices at the higher
levels of aggregation up to the all items index are
computed according to the Laspeyres formula as a weighted
arithmetic average.
Other information
None.
Organisation and publication
Glowny Urzad Statystyczny (Central Statistical Office).
Following publications provide the data on prices and information
on the methodology applied:
Statistical Yearbook of the Republic of Poland
,
Prices in the National Economy
(monthly and annually),
Statistical Bulletin
(monthly) and
Poland - Quarterly Statistics
(quarterly).
On Internet web site: http://www.stat.gov.pl