Singapore Releases October 2010 Consumer Price Index
The consumer price index in October 2010 rose by 0.5 per cent over September 2010 on account of higher costs of housing, transport as well as “recreation & others”.
Excluding accommodation costs, the consumer price index was 0.3 per cent higher.
Compared with a year ago, the consumer price index increased by 3.5 per cent in October 2010, owing to higher costs of transport, housing, food as well as “recreation & others”.
Excluding accommodation costs, the consumer price index moved up by 3.5 per cent.
In the first ten months of 2010, the consumer price index was 2.5 per cent higher compared with the same period in 2009.
Excluding accommodation costs, the consumer price index rose by 3.2 per cent.
Month-on-Month Changes
The consumer price index in October 2010 went up by 0.5 per cent over September 2010. This largely reflected higher costs of housing, transport as well as “recreation & others”.
The 0.5 per cent rise in housing cost stemmed mainly from higher accommodation costs which more than offset lower electricity tariffs.
The cost of transport increased by 0.8 per cent, resulting from higher prices of cars and petrol.
With higher holiday travel cost and salary for foreign maids, the index for “recreation & others” rose by 0.6 per cent.
Excluding accommodation costs, the consumer price index was 0.3 per cent higher in October 2010 compared with September 2010.
On a seasonally adjusted basis, the consumer price index in October 2010 rose marginally by 0.1 per cent.
Excluding accommodation costs, the consumer price index remained unchanged at the same level as that in September 2010.
Year-on-Year Changes
Compared with October 2009, the consumer price index rose by 3.5 per cent in October 2010, reflecting mainly higher costs of transport, housing, food as well as “recreation & others”.
The cost of transport advanced by 9.5 per cent as a result of higher prices of cars and petrol. Housing cost moved up by 3.5 per cent, owing to higher accommodation costs and electricity tariffs.
Food items cost 1.7 per cent more, arising from dearer prepared meals, vegetables, rice & other cereals, fresh seafood as well as dairy products & eggs.
Higher holiday travel cost and salary for foreign maids raised the costs of “recreation & others” by 2.4 per cent. Excluding accommodation costs, the consumer price index went up by 3.5 per cent in October 2010 compared with a year ago.
The consumer price index in the first ten months of 2010 was 2.5 per cent higher compared with the same period in 2009. Excluding accommodation costs, the consumer price index increased by 3.2 per cent.
The consumer price index (CPI) is commonly used as a measure of consumer price inflation. It measures price changes in a fixed basket of consumption goods and services commonly purchased by the households over time.
The selection of goods and services in the CPI basket as well as their weights are kept constant at the base period to ensure that any changes in the CPI reflect only price changes.
The weighting pattern for the 2009-based CPI was derived from the expenditure values collected from the Household Expenditure Survey (HES) conducted from October 2007 to September 2008.
These expenditure values were updated to 2009, taking into account price changes between 2007/08 and 2009.
The CPI is compiled on a monthly basis. For longer periods, the CPI is derived by averaging the monthly indices. For example, the yearly CPI is derived by taking a simple average of the 12 months’ indices for the year.
Scope and Coverage
The CPI covers only consumption expenditure incurred by residenthouseholds. It excludes non-consumption expenditures such as loan repayments, income and property taxes, purchase of houses, shares and other financial assets etc. Resident households are defined as households headed by a Singapore citizen or permanent resident.
The 2009-based CPI basket covered a total of 6,500 brands.
Measurement of Changes in the Consumer Price Index
To calculate month-on-month change, the difference between the CPI for the specific month and that for the preceding month expressed in percentage term is used.
This measures the change in average prices between the two months and serves as a useful short-term indicator of price movement.
To measure the year-on-year change, the CPI for the specific month is compared with that for the same month of preceding year. Likewise, the annual inflation rate for a specific year is computed by comparing the average for the 12 monthly indices with that for the preceding year.
Consumer Price Index for “All Items Less Accommodation”
Accommodation comprises “rental and owner-occupied accommodation”, as well as “minor repairs & maintenance”.
Within accommodation, a significant share was attributed to “owner-occupied accommodation” cost which was computed based on the imputed rental concept and hence, has no impact on the cash expenditure of households.
In addition, under minor repairs & maintenance, the rebates for service & conservancy charges (S&CC) which are given to households living in HDB flats in different periods of the year also result in some volatility in the monthly CPI.
Hence, the series on ‘All Items less accommodation’ is compiled as an additional indicator for interested users.
Seasonally adjusted Consumer Price Index
The data series on CPI and its major components are seasonally adjusted using the X-12 procedure. Seasonal adjustment is the process of estimating and removing seasonal effects from a time series. Users interested in the underlying price trends could refer to the seasonally adjusted data series.
Topics: Asia, canteens, catering trade, cereals, consumer price index, CPI, CTI, dairy products, eating places, economic activity, economic development, economic growth, economic recovery, Economy, eggs, fast food, financial services, food, foreign maids, fresh seafood, Governance, government, holiday travel, housing, inflation, insurance services, monitor, motor vehicles, news, October, Pacific, productivity, restaurants, retail sales, rice, RSI, sales, seasonal adjustment, Singapore, transport, vegetables
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