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Consumer Price Index (2001=100) - December
Central Statistical Office (CSO)
January 10, 2007

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The year on year inflation rate (annual percentage change) for the month of December 2006 as measured by the all items Consumer Price Index (CPI) stood at 1281.1 percent, gaining 182.3 percentage points on the November rate of 1098.8 percent.

This means that prices as measured by the all items CPI increased by an average of 1281.1 percent between December 2005 and December 2006. The annual average inflation for 2006 was 1016.7 percent gaining 778.9 percentage points on the 2005 annual average of 237.8 percent.

• The year-on-year inflation rate is given by the percentage change in the index of the relevant month of the current year compared with the index of the same month in the previous year.

Food and Non Alcoholic beverages inflation prone to transitory shocks stood at 1195.2 percent whilst Non-food inflation stood at 1336.8 percent.

The month on month inflation rate (monthly percentage change) in December 2006 was 36.3 percent gaining 6.2 percentage points on the November 2006 rate of 30.1 percent.

This means that prices as measured by the all items CPI increased by an average of 36.3 percent from November 2006 to December 2006.

• The month-on-month inflation rate is given by the percentage change in the index of the relevant month of the current year compared with the index of the previous month in the current year.

The month on month Food and Non Alcoholic Beverages inflation stood at 41.0 percent in December 2006. The month on month non-food inflation stood at 33.6 percent gaining 4.3 percentage points on the November 2006 rate of 29.3 percent.

The CPI for the month ending December 2006 stood at 665774.1 compared to 488604.6 in November 2006 and 48205.6 in November 2005.

• The direction and magnitude of the rate of change in year on year inflation for a relevant month depends on how both the numerator and the denominator (the base) change during the same month in the current and the previous year.

The change in average price of the basket from November 2006 to December 2006 was higher (36.3%) as measured by the change in the price index, than the change in average price of the same basket from November 2005 to December 2005 (18.3%). That explains the rise in year on year inflation in December 2006.

The new Consumer Price Index
With effect from June 2005, the CSO is publishing the new Consumer Price Index (CPI) with new weights and a new classification in accordance with international guidelines. The shift to a new classification of Individual Consumption by Purpose (COICOP) has resulted in the increase in the number of sub-groups from 34 to 68 and the number of major groups has increased from 10 to 12.

The number of items in the CPI basket has also been increased from 337 to 428.As a result, the CPI has become more disaggregated. However, in the short term there would be lack of direct comparison of certain sub-indices for which monthly and annual comparison should be achieved in July 2005 and June 2006, respectively.

Due to the reclassification that has been done, some new sub-groups were created by moving individual items from one sub-group to another sub-group. For instance, the major group "Transport and Communication" in the previous classification was split into "Transport" and "Communication" major groups under the new set up. A totally new major group called "Restaurants, Cafes and Hotels" was created.

The implementation of the COICOP classification is also part of the harmonisation project of Consumer Price Indices in different regions like the SADC region. All member states are supposed to adopt the new procedure to enable inter country comparisons of the CPI and the rate of inflation.

The indices prior to June 2005 were all re-referenced to 2001=100. In principle, these indices do not aggregate. However, the rates of inflation remain the same under different weight regimes as the relative magnitude of indices is maintained. The new weights are therefore applicable from June 2005 onwards.

Linking the 1995=100 with the 2001=100 base at all items level
Users who wish to continue using the old series (the 1995=100 base) are advised to divide the current all items index with a new base of (2001=100) by a conversion factor of 0.12384622. For instance if the CSO had continued with the old base (1995=100), the June 2005 all items CPI was going to be 99 754.35.For instance the July 2005 CPI at 1995 prices is 146599.5.

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