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Price Indices

Consumer Price Indices (CPI) are measured on the basis of changes in the monthly cost of a fixed basket of goods and services. Prices are recorded at the retail level. This approach is in conformity with recommended International Standard used by agencies such as the United Nations Statistics Division (UNSD), International Monetary Fund (IMF), World Bank, Eurostat and International Labour Organisation (ILO). The items which make up the baskets used by the Bureau of Statistics were selected after the completion of a Household Budget Survey (HBS) in 2006.

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Data Collection: Prices data are collected from various sources on a rigid and systematic time schedule both weekly and monthly. A data collection questionnaire is used to collect prices from various Municipal Markets, Gas Stations, Supermarkets, Stores and Other Outlets.

All Urban Consumer Price Indices (Re-introduction): The Bureau of Statistics in collaboration with the Project for the Regional Advancement of Statistics in the Caribbean (PRASC) funded by the Government of Canada and the implementing agency Statistics Canada has re-introduced the publication of the All Urban Consumer Price Index. The presentation of the All Urban Index utilises the system for the Classification of Individual Consumption by Purpose (COICOP). COICOP is an internationally agreed classification developed by the United Nations Statistics Division to classify and analyse household consumption expenditures. This system allows for a more detailed structure for the breakdown of expenditure categories of household spending and comprises twelve (12) COICOP Divisions.

Data collection for the compilation of the all urban index re-commenced in the fourth quarter of 2017. The publication incorporates data collected from the six (6) towns which were surveyed during the Household Budget Survey (HBS) conducted in 2005/2006. These towns are Anna Regina, New Amsterdam, Corriverton, Rosehall, Linden and Georgetown.

The Bureau has completed the data collection exercise for the Household Budget Survey/Survey of Living Conditions 2018/2019. The data collected from this survey will be used in the re-basing exercise for the New Consumer Price Basket of Goods and Services and will include the additional new towns namely Bartica, Lethem, Mabaruma and Mahdia.

The Bureau wishes to acknowledge the immeasurable work done by the software developer Mr. Howard Hamilton who worked closely with Ms. Jessica Fox, Overseas Development Institute (ODI) Fellow/Senior Statistician for the set-up, configuration and full implementation of the CPI+ software. This software will be used for the compilation of the All Urban CPI.