Explanatory Notes on Main Statistical Indicators
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,and is a composite
index derived from the urban consumer price index and the rural consumer price
index. Consumer price index can be used to analyze the impact of consumer price
change on actual expenditure for living cost of urban and rural residents.
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 expenses 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 from an oblique
perspective for observing and analyzing the changes of the above economic
activities.
Price Indices for Means of Agricultural Production
reflect the trend and degree of changes in the prices of the means of
agricultural production during a given period. Compilation of these indices
helps to understand the changes in prices of input into agricultural production
and facilitate the compilation of national accounts statistics. Before 1994,
price indices for means of agricultural production
were a sub-category in the retail price indices for
commodities, and it has been compiled separately since 1994.
Producer Price Indices for Manufactured Goods reflect the trend and degree of changes in general ex-factory prices
of all manufactured goods during a given period, including sales of
manufactured goods 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.
Price Indices for 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 for investment in fixed assets are
calculated as the weighted arithmetic mean of the price indices for 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 sale price indices
for houses, price indices for renting houses, price indices for land
transactions and price indices for management of properties. The methods for
the compilation of these four sets of indices are similar in that they all use
the bottom-up approach under which data are reported from lower level to higher
level.