Which parts of the CPI publication do you use?

As many of you already know StatsSA is changing the CPI publication effect as from January 2008 and the new CPI index will highlight shifts in the consumer basket.

They would like your input on what parts of the CPI publication you actually use - to make the new CPI publication more user friendly. Please complete the survey on their website.

This June, Stats SA will release the new CPI weights - derived largely, but not exclusively, from the results of the income and expenditure survey released last month.

The release of the weights follows the publication last year of the draft CPI basket.

In new CPI basket certain products will move category and new products will be introduced.

New products include:

• minibus taxis, which account for over 60% of public transport. Collection of these prices is now possible as a result of the establishment of a national team of price collectors for CPI;


• funeral costs and funeral insurance enter the basket as expenditure on these items increases;


• restaurants, take-aways and hotels, now appear as a distinct category in the new CPI classification and Stats SA proposes to publish their price change explicitly;


• internet service provider fees and laptops enter the basket as this technology becomes more pervasive;


• DVD and CD players and disks replace VHS and audio tapes and players as a result of changes in technology;


• tickets to sporting events are added to the entertainment basket; and


• the lottery will be included in the basket if it is operational on 1 January 2008.

The CPI will continue to be published on the basis of the current basket and weights until the December 2008 release (in January 2009). The January 2009 CPI (published in February 2009) will be the first to be published on the basis of the new basket and weights.