Index Numbers

Dr. ViVek Tyagi

STaTiSTicS DeparTmenT
n.a.S. college, meeruT
 Index Numbers

• What is Index Number ?

• Definitions used for all Index Numbers

• Why Convert Data to indices ?

• Types of Index Number

• Some Important Price indices

 What is Index Number ?

• An Index Number is a statistical value that measures

the relative change in price, quantity, value, or some
other item of interest with respect to time or place.
• A simple index number measures the relative change
in one or more than one variable.
• Bowley stated that "Index numbers are used to gauge
the changes in some quantity which we cannot
observe directly".
 Definition

• “Index numbers are quantitative measures of

growth of prices, production, inventory and other
quantities of economic interest.”
• “Index number indicate the the level of certain
phenomenon at a given time or place in comparison
with the level of the same phenomenon at some
other standard time or place
 Characteristics Of Index Numbers

• Index numbers are specialised averages.

• Index numbers measure the change in the level of a
phenomenon.
• Index numbers measure the effect of changes over a period of
time.
• Index numbers are Economic Barometers.
• Index numbers are sign and guide posts of Business.
• Index number are the ratio of the current value to a base value.
 Terms used for all Index Numbers

 Current period :- The period for which you wish

to find the Index Number.
 Base period :- The period with which you wish to
compare prices of the current period.
 Price :- Price of the commodity or items you want
to compare.
 Quantity :- Quantity of the commodity or items
you want to compare.
• An index is a convenient way to express a change in a
diverse group of items.
• Converting data to indices also makes it easier to assess
the trend in a series composed of exceptionally large
numbers.
 Why Convert Data to Indices?
• Many times we have to combine several items and develop
an index to compare the cost of this aggregation of items in
two different time period
 For example, we might be interested in an index for items that relate to the
expense of operating and maintaining an automobile. The items in the index
might include tires, oil changes, and gasoline prices
 Or we might be interested in a college student index. This index might include
the cost of books, tuition, hostel, meals, and entertainment.

• There are several ways we can combine the items to

determine the index.
 Types of Index Number
• Price Index
 Unweighted indices
 Simple Aggregate Index
 Simple Average of the Relative Prices
 Weighted indices
 Laspeyres Price Index
 Paasche Price Index
 Fisher’s Price Index

• Quantity Index
• Value Index
• Special Purpose Index Consumer Price Index (CPI)
 Price Index
 Price Relative :- The price relative of an item is defined
as: pt
Price Relative 
po
Where:
pt = price in current period
po = price in base period

 Price Relative Index provides a ratio that indicates the

change in price of an item from one period to another.
 Simple Price Index

 Simple Price Index is a common method of expressing this

change as a percentage:
pt
Simple Price Index   100
po
Where:
pt = price in current period
po = price in base period
 Simple Price Index

• The simple price index finds the percentage change in the price
of an item from one period to another.

• An index number is always referenced back to a base year

which is always given a value of 100.

• Subsequent figures (the next years) are then scaled in relation

to the base year, so an index gives the change since the base
year.
Suppose we have the price of an item for each
year over a four year period:

Year Price
1 2.00
2 2.20
3 2.40
4 2.90
 WHAT IS THE INCREASE EACH YEAR?
Year Price Calculation Index

1 2.00 (2.00 * 100/ 2) 100

2 2.20 (2.20 * 100/ 2) 110

3 2.40 (2.40 * 100/ 2) 120

4 2.90 (2.90 * 100/ 2) 145

We could choose Year 1 as the base year.

 Unweighted indices
Simple Aggregate Price Index :- In most cases we are interested in the
prices of a “basket of goods”, and not just one item. We therefore need an aggregate
index.

1. Add up column of prices Item Price Yr0 Price Yr1 Price Yr2
2. Use
 100
P t
A
B
1.00
2.00
1.10
2.30
1.15
2.35
P o C 5.00 5.60 5.70
8.00 9.00 9.20
100 112.5 115

9
100
8
 Interpretation

• A price index of 113 would indicate an increase of 13%

relative to the base year.

• A price index of 75 would indicate a decrease of 25%

relative to the base year.
 Simple Aggregate Index

Disadvantages:

 An item with a relatively large price can dominate the index.

 If prices are quoted for different quantities, the simple aggregate index
will yield a different answer. This makes it possible to manipulate the
value of the index.

 Does not take into account the quantity of each item sold.
Unweighted Indices (Average of Relative Prices)

• The Average of Relative Prices is the average of

the individual simple price indices of all items.

 It does not take into account the quantity of each item sold.

 It is a vast improvement on the simple aggregate index.

 Average of Relative Prices

sum of the simple price indexes

Average of Relative Prices 
k
 pt 
p  100 
  o 
k

Where:
k = number of items
pt = price in current period
po = price in base period
 Example
Item Price Yr0 Price Yr1 Price Yr2 PR Yr0 PR Yr1 PR Yr2
A 1.00 1.10 1.15 100 110 115
B 2.00 2.30 2.35 100 115 117.5
C 5.00 5.60 5.70 100 112 114
300 337 346.5
100 112.33 115.5

1. Find PR’s for each item.

2. Add up columns.
3. Find the average
The indices we have discussed either dealt with
a single item or assumed that all items are of
equal importance.
This is obviously not true!
We need an index which can deal with a “basket
of goods” and take account of the relative
importance of the items in the basket.
 Weighted Index Numbers
• Use of a weighted index allows greater importance to be
attached to some items.
• Generally we use Quantities consumed as weights.
• Price Index uses Price x weight(Quantity) i.e. total cost or
expenditure of that item.
• Most commonly used:
 Base-Weighted Index – Use base year quantities (Laspeyres).
 Current-Weighted Index – Use current year quantities (Paasche).
 Base-Weighted Price Index (Laspeyres’s Index)

• Known as the Average of Weighted Relative Prices.

• The weights used are the quantities of each item bought in

the base period.
• This is given by: Current year prices x weights
X 100
Base year prices x weights
  pt q0
Laspeyres’s Index   100
 p0 q0

Where:
qo = quantity bought in base period
pt = price in current period
po = price in base period
 Laspeyres’s Index

Item Quant Yr0 Price Yr0 Price Yr1 Price Yr2 PoQo P1Qo P2Qo
A 50 1.00 1.10 1.15 50 55 57.5
B 20 2.00 2.30 2.35 40 46 47
C 5 5.00 5.60 5.70 25 28 28.5
115 129 133
1. Multiply each price by the 100 112.2 115.7
quantity in Year 0.
2. Add up each column.
3. Use the given formula  P Q   100
t 0

 P Q  0 0
 Disadvantage with Laspeyres

• Laspeyres’s Index assumes that the same amount of each

item is bought every year.

• If I bought 35 kg of oranges in base year, the index

assumes I bought the same amount every year, when in
reality if the price went up, one might buy less.
Current-Weighted Price Index (Paasche’s Index)

• Paasche Index uses consumption in the current period.

• Measures the change in the cost of purchasing items in
terms of quantities relating to the current period.
• Paasche and Laspeyres will generally not yield the same
result.
  pt qt
Paasche’s Index   100
 p0 qt

Where:
qt = quantity bought in current period
pt = price in current period
po = price in base period
 Paasche’s Index
Item Quant Yr0 Quant Yr1 Quant Yr2 Price Yr0 Price Yr1 Price Yr2
A 50 55 60 1.00 1.10 1.15
B 20 21 23 2.00 2.30 2.35
C 5 5 4 5.00 5.60 5.70
P1Q1 PoQ1 P2Q2 PoQ2
60.5 55 69 60
48.3 42 54.05 46
• Use Formula  Pt Q t   100 28 25 22.8 20
 P0 Q t  136.8 122 145.85 126
• Note the structure of this. 136.8 145.85
100  100 
• We need to find Sum of 122 126
P1Q1 and Sum of P0Q1 112.1311 115.754
 Laspeyres versus Paasche Index

Lasperyres’s Index Paasche’s Index

 The Laspeyres Index measures the  The Paasche index measures the ratio
ratio of expenditures on base year of expenditures on current year
quantities in the current year to quantities in the current year to
expenditures on those quantities in expenditures on those quantities in
the base year. the base year.

 The Laspeyres’s Index is usually  With the Paasche index it is difficult

larger than the Paasche’s Index. to make year-to-year comparisons
since every year a new set of weights
is used.
 Laspeyres versus Paasche Index
Lasperyres’s Index Paasche’s Index

 Since the Laspeyres index uses base  Since the Paasche index uses current
period weights, it may overestimate period weights, it may underestimate
the rise in the cost of living, the rise in the cost of living, because
because people may have reduced people may have increased their
their consumption of items that consumption of items.
have become costly.  Paasche’s Index, on the other hand,
 Laspeyres’s Index tends to tends to overweight goods whose
overweight goods whose prices prices have gone down.
have increased.
 Fisher’s Ideal Index
• Fisher’s Ideal Index was developed in an attempt to
offset these shortcomings.

• It is the geometric mean of the Laspeyres and Paasche

indices.

• It is given below:

Fisher' s Index  ( Laspeyres' s Index Paasche' s Index)

Fisher ' s Index 
pq pq
t 0 t t
 100
p q p q
0 0 0 t

Where:
qt = quantity bought in current period
qo = quantity bought in base period
pt = price in current period
po = price in base period
 Quantity indices
• An index that measures changes in quantity levels over
time is called a quantity index.
• Probably the best known quantity index is the Index of
Industrial Production.
• A weighted aggregate quantity index is computed in much
the same way as a weighted aggregate price index.
• A weighted aggregate quantity index for period t is given by

Quantity _ Index 
Qw t t
 100
Q w 0 t
 Value Index
• A value index measures changes in both the price and
quantities involved.
• A value index, such as the index of department store
sales, needs the original base-year prices, the original
base-year quantities, the present-year prices, and the
present year quantities for its construction.
• Its formula is given as:

Total value in the current year

Value Index   100
Total value in the base year
  pt qt
Value Index   100
 p0 q0

Where:
qt = quantity bought in current period
qo = quantity bought in base period
pt = price in current period
po = price in base period
Special Purpose Index:- Consumer Price Index (CPI)

• It is also known as ‘Cost-of-Living’ Index.

• It is a general indicator of the rate of price change for

consumer goods and services.

• The CPI measures price change over time and does not
provide comparisons between relative price levels at a
particular date.
Special Purpose Index:- Consumer Price Index (CPI)

• The CPI does not provide any basis for measuring

relative price levels between the different cities.

• It allows consumers to determine the effect of

price increases on their Purchasing Power.

• It is a yardstick for revising wages, pensions,

alimony payments, etc. It computes Real Income.
Consumer Price Index (CPI) is given by:

 pt w
CPI   100
 p0 w
 CPI Uses - Formulas

Money Income
Real Income   100
CPI

1
Purchasing PowerOf Money   100
CPI
 Price indices: Other Considerations
• Selection of Items
 When the class of items is very large, a representative
group (usually not a random sample) must be used.
 The group of items in the aggregate index must be
periodically reviewed and revised if it is not
representative of the class of items in mind.
• Selection of a Base Period
 As a rule, the base period should not be too far from
the current period.
 The base period for most indices is adjusted
periodically to a more recent period of time.
 Price indices: Other Considerations
• Quality Changes
 A basic assumption of price indices is that the prices
are identified for the same items each period.
 Is a product that has undergone a major quality
change the same product it was?
 A substantial quality improvement also may cause an
increase in the price of a product.
 THank you

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