Uruguay (Montevideo)
Official title
Indice de los precios del consumo (Consumer Price Index).
Scope
The index is compiled monthly and relates to middle-income households
living in Montevideo.
Official base
December 1985 = 100.
Source of weights
The weights and selected items were derived from a household expenditure
survey conducted in Montevideo during September 1982-August 1983 among a
sample of 1,946 middle-income households. The weights were adjusted to
take into account price changes between the survey period and December
1985.
Weights and composition
| Major groups
| Number of items
| Weights
| Approximate number of price quotations
|
| Food
| 84 | 39.91 | ...
|
| Clothing and footwear
| 50 | 7.02 | ...
|
| Housing
| 16 | 17.58 | ...
|
| Furniture, household equipment and cleaning materials
| 19 | 6.36 | ...
|
| Medical care
| 11 | 9.26 | ...
|
| Transport and communication
| 9 | 10.38 | ...
|
| Recreation
| 11 | 3.10 | ...
|
| Education
| 8 | 1.30 | ...
|
| Other expenditure (incl. personal care and tobacco)
| 13 | 5.09 | ...
|
| Total
| 221 | 100.00 | ...
|
Household consumption expenditure
Consumption expenditure for the purpose of the index comprises all
acquisitions of goods and services for consumption during the reference
period, including consumption from own-produced goods and income in kind
received. The acquisition of durable goods other than owner-occupied
houses is measured on the basis of payments made during the reference
period. Gifts, indirect taxes, municipal rates and other expenditure
related to the use of goods and services such as licence fees are also
included. Excluded from the index are money transfers, income tax and
other direct taxes, savings and gambling.
Method of data collection
Prices are collected from more than 400 retail outlets, markets and
service establishments in Montevideo. Price data for most items are
collected by agents visiting selected outlets periodically. The prices
of items sold in market places are ascertained once a week. For items
with centrally-fixed prices, such as milk, bread, electricity and public
transport fares, prices are obtained directly from the relevant
authorities and/or service establishments when changes occur.
The prices used in the index are those that any member of the public
would have to pay on the pricing day to purchase the specified goods or
services.
Housing
Rent data are collected each month from 12 selected house-renting
agencies. Information for owner-occupied houses is obtained from the
Mortgage Bank of Uruguay.
Specification of varieties
The specifications of varieties to be priced give in detail the brand
name, description, unit and size.
Substitution, quality change, etc.
If an item disappears from an outlet, its price is imputed on the basis
of items available in other outlets.
Seasonal items
Seasonal fluctuations in the prices of fresh fruit and vegetables are
taken into account by varying items and item weights within monthly
baskets of constant group weights.
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.
The price relative for each item, calculated by dividing the average
price for the current period by the average price for the base period,
is used to calculate item indices.
Organisation and publication
Dirección general de Estadística y Censos: Boletín mensual
(Montevideo).
Idem: Indice de los precios del consumo, Metodología, Base
Diciembre 1985
.