Yugoslavia
Official title
Cost of Living Index.
Scope
The index is compiled monthly and relates to workers' and employees'
families.
Official base
Indices appearing in national publications are computed on the basis of
changes in average prices from the previous year; thus the index base
changes each calendar year.
Source of weights
The weights and selected items are derived from the results of a
permanent survey of income and expenditure conducted in more than 50
large towns and covering more than 2,000 workers' and employees'
families with two adults and one or two children or dependent persons.
The weights relating to 1979 are as follows:
Weights and composition
| Major groups
| Number of items
| Weights
| Approximate number of price quotations
|
| Food
| 94 | 45.84 | ...
|
| Beverages and tobacco
| 8 | 4.92 | ...
|
| Housing:
|
| Rent
| 1 | 3.60 | ...
|
| Maintenance and water
| 4 | 2.74 | ...
|
| Fuel and light
| 9 | 5.62 | ...
|
| Clothing and footwear
| 54 | 12.37 | ...
|
| Household goods and services
| 36 | 6.88 | ...
|
| Personal hygiene
| 17 | 3.58 | ...
|
| Education and recreation
| 18 | 5.54 | ...
|
| Transport and communication
| 9 | 8.91 | ...
|
| Total
| 260 | 100.00 | ...
|
Household consumption expenditure
Not available.
Method of data collection
Prices for most items are collected each month by agents from
about 3,500 retail outlets in 53 towns; prices for agricultural
products are collected each fortnight.
Housing
Rent quotations are obtained from eight standard categories of dwellings
in each of the 53 towns.
Specification of varieties
Not available.
Substitution, quality change, etc.
Not available.
Seasonal items
Seasonal fluctuations in the prices of fresh fruit and vegetables are
taken into account by shifting monthly item weights within 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 index is obtained by successive weighting of arithmetic
price averages, using weights based on the sales turnover for items sold
in the different towns and republics where prices are collected and on
the expenditure pattern of the families covered by the permanent survey.
Organisation and publication
Federal Statistical Institute: Indeks
(Belgrade).
Idem: Metodoloski Materyali
, Nos. 122, 168 and 233.