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The Consumers Price Index (CPI) 'basket' contains goods and services which have been chosen for the CPI survey. Imagine a shopping basket which has, for example, fruit, chocolate, chippies (from the food group) and other items from each of the other nine groups. The items in the basket must be identical in quantity and quality over a period of time. Some changes in prices may be due to increased quality or improved packaging but these are not 'pure' price changes. When this happens price adjustments are made to remove the effect of these changes.
Prices are surveyed in 15 urban areas: Whangarei, Auckland, Hamilton, Tauranga, Rotorua, Napier/Hastings, New Plymouth, Wanganui, Palmerston North, Wellington/Hutt, Nelson, Christchurch, Timaru, Dunedin and Invercargill. Surveys of prices for the CPI are carried out by post, the Internet, telephone and email.
Price surveys are mainly conducted in the middle period of the quarter, centred on the fifteenth day of the second month. Monthly surveys are conducted for the following commodities: food (excluding fresh fruit and vegetables), non-food groceries, electricity, gas, alternative motor fuels, tobacco, alcoholic drinks, newspapers and domestic and international airfares. Weekly surveys are conducted for fresh fruit and vegetables. Some items, such as telephone call charges, are monitored throughout the quarter.
Consumers Price Index introduction
Consumers Price Index information releases
Statistics and information about Consumer Spending
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