The Data: Coverage, Periodicity, and Timeliness

Coverage characteristics

5.1.1 Statistical presentation

• The Consumer Price Index, a Laspeyres index（2006=100）, measures the changes in prices of goods and services purchased by households for consumption purpose. 

• The index covers 424 representative goods or services. 16 cities or counties are selected for pricing. For the 8 surveyed cities, prices are collected nine times a month for fresh food and three times a month for other goods and services; for the 8 surveyed counties, they are three times and once a month respectively. Approximately 21,000 prices quotes are obtained each month, and the quotes are obtained mostly by personal interview.

• The weights are based on the 2006 Family Income and Expenditure Survey and are revised every five years.  The base year is changed every five years.

• Seasonally adjusted and unadjusted  indices are provided.　

Periodicity

Monthly

Timeliness

The fifth day (postpone to the next working day in case of holiday) after the end of  the reference month.

Access by the Public

Advance dissemination of release calendar

5.1.3 Advance release calendar

• In principle, the press release is made on the fifth day (postpone to the next working day in case of holiday) each month.  The date of the next release is announced in each news release.

• A schedule of the precise release dates for the Calendar year is  listed  on the Internet website:
  http://win.dgbas.gov.tw/dgbas03/bs7/sdds/english/calendar.htm

Simultaneous release to all interested parties

Integrity

Dissemination of terms and conditions under which official statistics are produced, including ...
Confidentiality of individual responses

0.1.1 Responsibility for collecting, processing, and disseminating statistics

• The Bureau of Statistics, DGBAS, Executive Yuan has to collect and publish all statistical data under the Statistics Act (Article 3).

• Individual data are not published.

• The following DGBAS websites disseminate the Statistics Act :
  http://eng.dgbas.gov.tw/public/Data/512614362871.pdf

Identification of internal government access to data before release

1.2.2 Internal governmental access to statistics prior to release

Information in the press release is provide, under strict embargo, an advance copy of the news release is given to the President and the Chairman of the Executive Yuan  the morning prior to release to the public on the release day.

Identification of ministerial commentary on the occasion of statistical releases

1.2.3 Attribution of statistical products

No ministerial commentary is released with these data.  Bureau of Statistics, DGBAS, Executive Yuan provides its own analytical commentary with these data releases.

Provision of information about revision and advance notice of major changes in methodology

4.3.1 Revision schedule

• All seasonally adjusted and unadjusted CPI are routinely subject to revision for 3 months  after original publication.  Indices are revised to reflect late reports and corrections received from respondents.  The data become final three months after initial publication.   Besides, the seasonally adjusted monthly data for the previous 5 years are revised at the time of  the release of the March CPI.

• Major program changes are made on CPI re-basing every five years.  As soon as the re-basing  process is finished, the new results  are announced  at the upcoming  February  that the January data are released.

Quality

Dissemination of documentation on methodology and sources used in preparing statistics

5.2.1 Dissemination of documentation on concepts, scope, classifications, basis of recording, data sources, and statistical techniques

Detailed methodological document can be obtained  on the Internet website
http://eng.stat.gov.tw/public/data/dgbas03/bs3/book/descriptione.doc

Dissemination of  that support statistical cross-checks and provide assurance of reasonableness

4.2.1 Temporal consistency

The  “Price Index” news release publishes a monthly analysis of price movements and a summary table on the CPI.

The “Price Statistics Monthly” is available electronically on the Internet website one or two days after the press release, disseminates detailed monthly data  : (1) basic groups; (2) commodity and service groups; (3) other special groups; (4) time series of CPI.