Regional Coordinators Meeting

Monthly CPI Data Collection – A focus on Africa region

Washington DC, May 27 – 29, 2015

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Overview of CPI Data Availability

• Consumer Price Indices are produced monthly in every

country.

• The indices are published each month in form of tables,

series or bulletins.

• However this information is not always timely available

online. Few exceptions deserve acknowledgement.

Production Official dissemination Online dissemination

Challenges online data collection in Africa

• Most African countries have a website and supposedly

publish their CPI through this channel.

• The main relates to the use of international classifications

especially COICOP 12 main categories

• Coverage, survey framework, infrastructures, and efficiency

of price collection system is another axis.

• Method of price validation and formulae used are unknown

• Absence of harmonization makes it difficult to compare CPI

• Rebasing is a major issue in some countries in an attempt

to link CPI series

Availability Accessibility Consistency

Proposed Data Collection Scheme

• The proposed data collection scheme starts at country

level with the production of long CPI series.

• Regions will provide technical assistance to make sure

that countries follow international standards.

• Regional data would be consolidated at global level for

dissemination through routinely tested platforms.

Country Production Regional collection Global dissemination

Use of International CPI Data

• For this presentation the international CPI database was

needed for PPP extrapolation in the context of ICP.

• In fact the potential users cover a larger spectrum.

• Beyond ICP, internationally comparable CPIs would be

useful for international and multilateral organizations.

• Academics, researchers, the media, and common citizens

interested in the pace of world economies are the larger

group of users. Ref. WDI users.

Other benefits

• Use of international classification and CPI computation

procedures.

• International platform and forum for discussion of CPI data

quality

• Opportunity to share best practices and encourage NSO to

see out of the box.

• Ultimately statistical capacity is built through better

dissemination and use of internationally comparable CPIs.

Items for discussion

• Feasibility of the proposed approach for CPI data collection.

• Resources needed to carry out regional data collection.

• Time line for launching, testing, and inserting CPI series in

routine work of NSO and RCA.

• Prospects for data use and global dissemination.

• Regional experience and extension to the ICP community.

• Return on countries in terms of CPI-ICP integration and

capacity building.

Thank you.