PRICES INDICES - CONSUMER PRICES

Contact Person

Organization

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Coverage characteristics

Data are disseminated on the Broad National Consumer Price Index (IPCA - 1993 = 100), a Laspeyres index, which covers the movement of prices of goods and services purchased by households in urban areas of the metropolitan areas of Rio de Janeiro, Porto Alegre, Belo Horizonte, Recife, São Paulo, Belém, Fortaleza, Salvador and Curitiba, in addition to Brasilia (the country's capital) and the municipality of Goiânia. The term "metropolitan area" is defined as a series of contiguous municipalities that are socioeconomically integrated with a central city. The areas covered by the index represent 35 percent of the urban population and 29 percent of the total population of the country.

The index tracks the movement of prices of a basket of all goods and services actually purchased by households during the period of the Household Budget Survey. It is a measure of the change in retail prices, including taxes. It includes prices actually paid by consumers. The index is used to measure inflation among households with a monthly income of 01-40 minimum wages.

The prices in question are the cash prices of goods and services purchased by the general public.

The basket is divided into nine major groups: food and beverages, housing, household goods, clothing, transportation, health and personal care, personal expenses, education, and communication. The groups are divided into 19 subgroups, and each subgroup is divided into 52 items. The items are divided into 384 sub-items, which form the smallest aggregation to which weights are applied. The monthly index is calculated with approximately 300,000 prices collected in 31,000 establishments. All the information obtained each month is checked and analyzed by a team of specialized technical staff, based on an automated check and other information.

The collection of prices of goods and services is continuous throughout the month and is carried out by special teams of approximately 357 field researchers. Quality control of the data collection process is routine and consists of a visit from the team supervisor to an establishment where one of the field researchers has already collected price data. The systematic collection of prices follows a schedule established each year, in which each month is divided into four periods, corresponding approximately to one week each. The samples are also divided into four parts, and each part includes a fixed set of establishments that is always visited during the same period of each month.

The general rule is that the prices of each product are collected each month. Information is collected annually for taxes, the amounts of which are set once a year.

The weights applied in the calculation of consumer price indices of IBGE are based on the Household Budget Survey conducted in 2002/2003.

A seasonally adjusted index is also published monthly.

The index compilation process and its methodology is being constantly improved, therefore there is no index re-based on a regular basis. The weights were revised in 1989 and in 1999 and the last revision occurred in 2006.

Periodicity

Timeliness

Advance dissemination of release calendar

Simultaneous release to all interested parties

The indicators and the monthly report are made available at http://www.ibge.gov.br at the time of the press conference.

Data are released to the press at 9:00 a. m. on the scheduled day. The press release is distributed to the press and is based on an explanatory report written by the technical staff. It is available to all interested parties on the Internet (http://www.ibge.gov.br). A special service for journalists to provide information and answer questions relating to the indices released is provided on that day and at the time indicated by the Social Communication Coordination of the IBGE by technical staff working in the price index area.

Dissemination of terms and conditions under which official statistics are produced, including those relating to confidentiality of individual responses

1. Law 5534 of November 14, 1968 (Law on duty of providing statistical data);
2. Law 5878 of May 11, 1973 (Law establishing IBGE Foundation);
3. Law 6183 of December 11, 1974 (Law on statistical and geographical national systems);
4. Decree 73.177 of November 20, 1973 that enacts these laws;
5. Decree 74.084 of May 20, 1974 that approves the national statistical plan; and
6. Decree 3.272 of December 3, 1999 that approves the organic law of the IBGE.

According to these laws, dissemination of data by the IBGE is mandatory and free of charge.

Identification of internal government access to data before release

Directive 355 of November 5, 2007, issued by the Ministry of Planning, Budget and Management, establishes that data are provided to the authorities from the preceding list at 7:00 a.m. on the day of release.

The data are released for the press and disseminated on IBGE´s Internet website at 9:00 a.m.

The Directive and the relation of authorities of the precedence list are available on the website (http://www.ibge.gov.br).

Identification of ministerial commentary on the occasion of statistical releases

Provision of information about revision and advance notice of major changes in methodology

Dissemination of documentation on methodology and sources used in preparing statistics

The primary objective of these publications, that are also available in the Internet (http://www.ibge.gov.br), is to provide users with all information on the various aspects of producing a price index, from coverage to the methods of calculation used. When there are changes in methodology, new documents are produced and disseminated.

Dissemination of component detail, reconcilliations with related data, and statistical frameworks that support statistical cross-checks and provide assurance of reasonableness

The monthly changes in prices are published at the Internet based on the subitem level (the smallest aggregation associated to the weights used in household budgets surveys). The monthly weights are also disseminated. The survey encompasses 384 subitems. This information is available on an aggregated basis (items, groups, general index). Each one covers the 11 regions surveyed in Brazil. In the bulletins the monthly changes are available by item.

Detailed data can be obtained by the general public in the monthly bulletins, in the publication "Indicadores IBGE," in the Statistical Yearbook, on-line (http://www.ibge.gov.br), by e-mail and by telephone 0800 2218181.

Notes

IBGE’s Social Communication Coordination

"Indicadores IBGE", published in Portuguese. Copies may be obtained free of charge, via fax or e-mail, from:

IBGE’s Social Communication Coordination

Geographic coverage: Prices are collected in urban areas in nine metropolitan areas (Rio de Janeiro, Porto Alegre, Belo Horizonte, Recife, São Paulo, Belém, Fortaleza, Salvador, and Curitiba), the municipality of Goiânia, and the capital, Brasília. It covers 35 percent of the urban population and close to 29 percent of the entire national population.

Coverage of items: The index is divided into nine major groups: Food and beverage, housing, household goods, clothing, transportation, health and personal care, personal expenses, education, and communication . The groups are divided into 19 subgroups, 52 items and 384 sub-items.

The weights used to calculate the indices were obtained through the Consumer Expenditure Survey performed between July 2002 and June 2003.

The register of respondents was obtained through the 1989 Points of Purchase Survey, carried out in households. The selection variable used was the frequency of mention by households and the size of the sample was defined on the basis of price variability. The 2002/2003 POF (Consumer Expenditure Survey) provided types of establishments chosen by households per item surveyed. These two procedures together guide the ongoing process of revising the register. Other respondents: Register of rented housing (source: Annual Housing Survey (PNAD), Demographic Censuses and real estate agency) and services provided by government (source: public utilities companies), with 27,500 establishments visited each month. There are 34,000 respondents, and approximately 3,000 rented residences are included. Each month, 331,000 prices are collected.

The weighting structure reflects annual household consumption. The Household Budget Survey (POF) was carried out in 1987-1988, 1995-1996 and again in 2002-2003. Items in the POF representing a share of more than 0.07 percent of household expenditure are selected.

Detailed descriptions for the collection of prices are provided for the most frequently sold types of each item in the POF. Visits are made to all respondents. Questionnaires are printed by computer, which permits continual updating of the contents. Teams specialized in the collection of prices are organized in each of the 11 areas surveyed. Systematic training is provided for these teams. There are two types of product specification, one identifying a single price and the other for cases where more than one price is obtained for a given product per establishment, generating an average price for that product in the place of business.

Aggregation of the basic levels (subitems) to obtain indices for items, subgroups, groups, and the general index: Laspeyres. The weights used are obtained from the Household Budget Survey and are updated on the basis of price changes since the reference date of the Household Budget Survey, up to the application of the weights in the calculation of the indices. A base month is defined and automatically linked to the series. Base period for which the index number equals 100 is December 1993.