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Catalogue description Retail Prices Index dataset: 1987-2003 snapshot
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| Reference: | RG 77/1 |
|---|---|
| Title: | Retail Prices Index dataset: 1987-2003 snapshot |
| Description: | This dataset comprises a snapshot of the Retail Prices Index (RPI) for the years 1987-2003. The RPI is an index to virtually all types of household spending. It indicates what households would need to spend in order to keep purchasing the same things that it bought in an earlier period. Exceptions that fall outside the scope of the index include savings and investments, charges for credit, betting, and cash gifts. The index is compiled using prices of a large and varied sample of products, in selected locations. The goods and services for which prices are recorded are called 'representative items'. The RPI covers the following categories of goods and services: Food, Catering, Alcoholic drink, Tobacco, Housing, Fuel and Light, Household goods, Household services, Clothing and footwear, Personal goods and services, Motoring expenditure, Fares and other travel costs, Leisure goods, and Leisure services. It does not cover Unit trusts and stockbroking charges, foreign students' university tuition fees and university accommodation fees, which are covered in the CPI. The RPI measures changes in prices, not price levels; so it is expressed in terms of the comparison of prices relative to January 1987, when the index is given a value of 100. For example, the index for January 2004 was 183.1, which means that it would cost £183.10 to buy the same goods and services that cost £100 in January 1987. This represents an 83% rise in prices. The RPI is reviewed annually, to ensure that the calculations properly reflect UK shopping patterns. A wide range of information is used to determine the representative items, including ONS surveys of household spending, external market research and feedback from the price collectors. As markets and fashions change, and new products are introduced, the RPI is adjusted accordingly; internet purchases and DVD players, for example, were added in recent years. Once reviewed, the RPI is held fixed for a year at a time. The dataset as downloaded from the ONS website originally comprised a mixture of both RPI and CPI data, held in 20 numbered indices. The dataset now consists of 11 tables. |
| Date: | 1987-2003 |
| Held by: | The National Archives, Kew |
| Former reference in The National Archives: | CRDA/61/DS/1 |
| Legal status: | Public Record(s) |
| Closure status: | Open Document, Open Description |
| Access conditions: | Open on Transfer |
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