Release Date:12th January, 2017
The Consumers Price Index (CPI) is an indicator or measure of prices changes. It is a fixed weighted average of price relatives and is computed using the Laspeyres price index formula. The current weighting pattern is based on the 2005 Household Expenditure Survey (HES), which was carried out in 2005/06. The HES information was used to select the 'basket', which is the commonly used term for the goods and services prices for the purpose of compiling the CPI.
Key facts
Quarterly change
In the March 2017 quarter compared with the December 2016 quarter, the consumer price index(CPI) rose 0.21 percent.
>Transportprices rose 0.58 percent, affected by higher petrol and air transport prices.
>Housing-related prices were up 0.42 percent.
>Soft drinks prices were up by 0.65 percent.
>Prices of personal care goods went down by 2.1 percent
Annual change
From the March 2016 quarter to the March 2017 quarter:
The CPI experienced a negative inflation of 0.29 percent while the Underlying CPI was a positive 0.07 driven mainly by transport related prices, particularly air travels and fuel and oil which went down 1.18 percent.
Average prices
•The average price of 1 litre of petrol was $2.03 in the March 2017 quarter, up from $1.99 in the December 2016 quarter.
•Imported potatoes also increased from $3.17 per kilo in December quarter 2016 to $3.23 in the March quarter 2017.
•Cigarette prices continue to increase
More on Consumers Price Index...
Information about CPI
The Consumer Price Index covers price changes of the basket of goods and services consumed by all households on Rarotonga (the main island).
The base year is 2006. Prices are collected for 205 items and from selected outlets around Rarotonga. Individual prices are combined using weights from the Household Expenditure Survey (HES) conducted in 2004/5. The HES information was used to select the basket of goods and services.
The inclusion of an underlying measure is a recent improvement and it is published at the same time as the CPI. The underlying measure excludes items of a highly volatile nature, items that are subject to policy changes.
It excludes all locally produced fruit, vegetables, meat and fish; international airfares; mortgage interest, government rent, postal and telecommunication charges, electricity charges; tobacco and alcohol; petrol and diesel.
The CPI is computed using the Laspeyres price index formula.
