El Salvador
Official title
Indice de precios al consumidor (Consumer Price Index).
Scope
The index is computed monthly and covers all middle-income urban
households.
Official base
December 1978 = 100.
Source of weights
The weights and selected items were derived from a nationwide household
expenditure survey conducted between August 1976 and July 1977 among
1,819 urban and 1,408 rural households. The weights relate to urban
families of the middle-income group.
Weights and composition
| Major groups
| Number of items
| Weights
| Approximate number of price quotations
|
| Food
| 56 | 42.78 | ...
|
| Clothing and footwear
| 30 | 8.38 | ...
|
| Housing:
|
| Rent
| 1 | 11.70 | ...
|
| Water, telephone and domestic services
| 3 | 2.97 | ...
|
| Fuel and light
| 7 | 3.87 | ...
|
| Household utensils and linen
| 9 | 1.27 | ...
|
| Household equipment
| 11 | 6.01 | ...
|
| Cleaning materials
| 4 | 1.23 | ...
|
| Miscellaneous:
|
| Medical care
| 7 | 2.54 | ...
|
| Personal care
| 12 | 2.12 | ...
|
| Education and recreation
| 10 | 8.69 | ...
|
| Transport and communication
| 7 | 7.76 | ...
|
| Tobacco
| 1 | 0.68 | ...
|
| Total
| 158 | 100.00 | ...
|
Household consumption expenditure
Not available.
Method of data collection
Prices for most items and services are obtained by agents during the
week containing the 15th of each month in the metropolitan area of San
Salvador, Santa Ana and San Miguel. Some prices with uncertain quantity
are ascertained through direct buying. Prices for fresh fruit and
vegetables are collected during the first and third weeks of each
month, those for clothing items, every two months and those for
furniture, household equipment, medical and dental fees, each quarter.
Housing
Rent quotations are obtained in March and September of each year from 50
rented dwellings. No account is taken of owner-occupied dwellings.
Specification of varieties
Specifications of varieties are kept confidential and are detailed,
taking into account the quality, make, brand, pattern, etc.
Substitution, quality change, etc.
If a change in the specifications of an item occurs, it is treated as a
new item and the price relative calculated when the new item price is
collected twice; the weight assigned to the new item remains
unchanged. If the item is completely new, a special enquiry will
show the relative importance of the item, and the weights will be
redistributed over the other items in the sub-group concerned.
Seasonal items
If an item disappears temporarily from the market, it is assumed that
the seasonal item varies in the same proportion as all other items in
the same sub-group.
Computation
The index is computed according to the Laspeyres formula as a weighted
arithmetic average with fixed base, using weights corresponding to
August 1976-July 1977.
The price relative for each item is calculated by dividing the
average price for the current period by the average price for the
previous period. Average prices are simple arithmetic averages.
Organisation and publication
Ministerio de Economía, Dirección General de Estadística y Censos:
Boletín Estadístico
(San Salvador).
Ministerio de Planificación y Coordinación del Desarrollo Económico y
Social, Unidad Investigaciones Muestrales:
Metodología para la construcción del Indice de precios al consumidor,
base Diciembre 1978 = 100
(San Salvador, Nov. 1978).