Venezuela (Caracas)
Official title
Indice de precios al consumidor para el Area Metropolitana de Caracas.
(Consumer Price Index for the Metropolitan Area of Caracas).
Scope
The index is compiled monthly and relates to all families in the
metropolitan Area of Caracas.
Official base
1984 = 100.
Source of weights
The weights and selected items were derived from a national household
survey conducted during the period from April 1988 to March 1989, in
the Metropolitan Area of Caracas.
The aggregate expenditure of the goods and services selected for
the index basket amounted to 95 per cent of the total expenditure of
the population group concerned. Items were classified decreasingly
according to the expenditure of the item. Also included were the
usual items, even though they represented only minor expenditure.
Weights and composition
| Major groups
| Number of items
| Weights
| Approximate number of price quotations
|
| Food, beverages and tobacco
| 154 | 29.79 | 112728
|
| Clothing and footwear
| 66 | 15.55 | 38610
|
| Household operations (housing, fuel, light, furniture, etc.)
| 60 | 30.00 | 79020
|
| Miscellaneous
| 69 | 24.66 | 132066
|
| Total
| 349 | 100.00 | 362424
|
Household consumption expenditure
Consumption expenditure for the purpose of the index comprises all goods
and services purchased for consumption by the index population. It also
includes the consumption of homegrown and produced goods and income in
kind.
Method of data collection
Prices are obtained each month by agents from 2,226 selected outlets
including retail stores and service establishments from different
parts of the Metropolitan Area of Caracas. The samples are
distributed uniformly throughout the month. Official tariffs
are used for electricity, gas, water, telephone services and petrol,
and special inquiries are conducted for medical care, education,
transport and communication. The prices used in the index
calculation are the prices actually charged in cash transactions.
Prices of items bought at auctions or in clearance sales are not
taken into account.
Housing
Rent quotations are obtained each month from poverty management
agencies, covering a sample of family accommodation distributed in
various sectors of the Metropolitan Area of Caracas.
Specification of varieties
The specifications of goods and services to be priced are given in
detail, providing the brand name, description, unit and size.
Substitution, quality change, etc.
Items are substituted if they disappear from the market. If there is
a significant change in the quality of an item it is regarded as a new,
different item and included in the index as a new variety of the item
under review.
Seasonal items
The index computation does not take into account seasonal fluctuations
in item prices.
Computation
The index is computed according to the Laspeyres formula as a weighted
arithmetic average with fixed base, using weights corresponding to
the period 1 April 1988 - 31 March 1994.
The index for an item is obtained using the ratio of average prices
for all varieties of the current period and the preceding period.
Organisation and publication
Banco Central de Venezuela, Departamento de Estadísticas de Precios:
Boletín de Indicadores Semanales
, idem:Boletín Mensual
,
idem:Anuario de Estadísticas de Precios y Mercado Laboral
,
idem:Boletin Trimestral
.