Virtual : Price Statistics

Source details

Target audience: Compilers of consumer price indexes (CPIs), producer price indexes (PPIs), or export-import price indexes (XMPIs).
Qualifications: Participants are expected to have a degree in economics or statistics or equivalent experience.

Purpose: Broaden participants’ understanding of the concepts and methods of compiling CPIs, PPIs, and XMPIs.
Scope:
- Overview of index number theory and practical implications for choosing the index number formula at lower and higher levels of aggregation.
- Methods for sampling and collecting data from outlets and establishments.
- Discussion of new and emerging data sources and new collection technologies.
- Frontier issues including how to better measure the digital economy.
- Analysis of the role of price indexes as deflators in the 2008 SNA and related principles of scope, coverage, and valuation.
Specific sessions include:
- Methods for handling temporarily and permanently missing items;
- Adjusting prices for quality changes, including new products, establishments, and outlets;
- Chaining and linking indexes with updated weighting structures; and
- Meeting data users’ needs to ensure relevancy.
Reference practices: The course follows the principles and recommended practices in the CPI (2004), PPI (2004), and XMPI (2009) manuals.

Upon completion of the course, participants should be able to:

Apply the principles of price index theory.
Assess how well a price index meets international guidelines for best practice.
Apply methods for dealing with index compilation challenges such as unavailable items, quality change, and keeping an index up to date.