Explanatory Notes on Main Statistical Indicators
Urban Consumer Price Indices reflect the trend and
degree of changes in prices of consumer goods and services purchased by urban
households during a given period. It can be used to observe and analyze the impact
of price changes in consumer goods and services on wages (in monetary terms) of
urban staff and workers, and provide basis for policy-making concerning the
living cost and wages of staff and workers.
Rural Consumer Price Indices reflect the trend and
degree of changes in prices of consumer goods and services purchased by rural
households during a given period. It can be used to observe the impact of
change in retail prices of consumer goods and service prices in rural areas on
living expenditure of rural households, and to show the changes in the living
standard of peasants. It provides basis for analysis and research on condition
of life in rural areas.
Retail Price Indices reflect the trend and
degree of change in retail prices of commodities during a given period. The
change in retail prices of commodities directly affect
the living expenditure of urban and rural residents, government revenue,
purchasing power of residents and the equilibrium of market supply and demand,
and the ratio of consumption to accumulation. Therefore, the retail price
indices are useful to analyze the changes of the above economic activities.
Price Indices of Means of Agricultural
Production reflect the
trend and degree of changes in prices of means of agricultural production
during a given period. Price indices of means of agricultural production are
composed of 10 categories including small farm tools, feeds, domestic animals
for meat, draught domestic animals, semi-mechanized farm machinery, mechanized
farm machinery, chemical fertilizers, pesticides and spraying machinery, fuels
for farm machinery and other means of agricultural production. Compilation of these indices help to understand the changes
in prices of input into agricultural production and facilitate the compilation
of national account statistics. Before 1994, price indices of means of
agricultural production was a sub-category in the in the retail price indices
of commodities, and it has been compiled separately since 1994.
Indices of Producers’ Prices for Farm
Products reflect the
trend and degree of changes in producers’ prices received by farmers when they
sell farm products during a given period. These indices depict the change in
the level and structure of producers’ prices of farm products of the country
and meet the needs of agriculture statistics and national account statistics.
The producers’ price index of a given product is calculated through geometrical
mean of individual indices of all surveyed units who sell such product, and the
indices of a product category is obtained through weighted mean of price
indices of all products in the category. Method for calculating accumulative
quarterly indices is the same as for calculating the distinctive quarterly
indices.
Ex-factory Price Indices of Industrial
Products reflect the
trend and degree of changes in general ex-factory prices of all industrial
products during a given period, including sales of industrial products by an
industrial enterprise to all units outside the enterprise, as well as sales of consumer
goods to residents. It can be used to analyze the impact of ex-factory prices
on gross output value and value-added of the industrial sector.
Indices of Purchasing Prices of Raw
Materials, Fuels and Power reflect changes in the level and
degree of prices paid by industrial enterprises when they purchase production
input such as raw materials, fuels and power from the market or from other
energy or raw materials producing enterprises. These indices provide important
basis for measuring the material consumption of industrial enterprises after
removing influence of price changes.
At present, over 900 products in 9
categories, including fuels and power, ferrous metals, non-ferrous metals,
chemicals, building materials, are covered in
Price Indices of Investment in Fixed Assets reflect the trend and
degree of changes in prices of investment goods and projects in fixed assets
during a given period. The investment in fixed assets consists of three
components, namely the investment in construction and installation, the
investment in purchases of equipment and instrument, and the investment in
other items. Price indices of investment in fixed assets are calculated as the
weighted arithmetic mean of the price indices of the three components of
investment in fixed assets.
Removing the factor of price change in the
aggregates of investment at current prices, this indicator shows the changes in
the prices of commodities and fees involved in the investment of fixed assets,
and can be used to observe the actual size, growth, structure, and efficiency
of investment in fixed assets and provides reliable and scientific data for
government planning, management, decision-making, and further improving the
current national accounting system.
Price Indices for Real Estate reflect the trend and degree
of changes in prices of real estate during a given period, including price
indices for selling houses and buildings, price indices for leasing houses and
buildings and price indices for land transaction. The methods for the
compilation of the three sets of indices are similar in that they all use
bottom-up approach under which data are reported from lower level to higher
level.