عربي
Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics (PCBS)
Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics continues the work on data collection and production of Consumer Price Index in light of COVID-19 (CORONA VIRUS) pandemic
Stability in the Consumer Price Index (CPI) July, 07/2020
The overall CPI for Palestine during July 2020 Slightly Decreased by 0.02% compared with June 2020 (by 0.43% in Gaza Strip, while it increased by 0.50% in Jerusalem J1*, and with a slight increase by 0.01% in the West Bank**).
The changes in Palestinian CPI for July 2020 were traced back to changes in prices of the following expenditure sub groups compared with previous month:
|
Sub Groups |
Percent Change |
|
Fresh Chicken |
- 6.55% |
|
Gas |
- 0.34% |
|
Dried Vegetables |
+ 7.82% |
|
Liquid Fuel for Car " Petrol " |
+ 6.28% |
|
Potatoes and other Tubers |
+ 5.77% |
|
Eggs |
+ 4.72% |
|
Liquid Fuel for Car " Diesel " |
+ 4.15% |
|
Fresh Fruit |
+ 3.98% |
The Palestinian CPI during July 2020 decreased by 2.14% compared with July 2019 (by 2.28% in the West Bank**, by 2.02% in Gaza Strip, and by 0.59% in Jerusalem J1*).
Notice for Users:
1. Due to COVID-19 pandemic and inability to conduct face-to-face interview, data for Consumer Price Index has been collected by using mobile phones, in all of the Palestinian Governorates interview.
2. The number of sale outlets, from which Consumer Prices are collected in Palestine, reached 2,661 outlets in July 2020. Thus, in light of the temporary closure of many outlets in July due to applying the Palestinian emergency plan, the percentage for the completion of data collection process is as follows:
|
Region |
Number of Collected Outlets |
Number of Non-Collected Outlets |
Percentage of Collected Outlets |
|
West Bank** |
1,630 |
158 |
91.16% |
|
Gaza Strip |
681 |
10 |
98.55% |
|
Jerusalem J1* |
180 |
2 |
98.90% |
|
Total |
2,491 |
170 |
93.61% |
3. All services outlets are excluded from collecting their data for July 2020, because of quarterly collection frequency.
4. The number of price observations collected to compile the Palestinian Consumer Price index is 38,395 price observations; where 95.36% was collected in July 2020. Hence, the percentages are as follows within the Palestinian regions:
|
Region |
Number of Actual Collected Observation |
Estimated Number of Observations |
Percentage of Actual Collected Observation |
|
West Bank** |
25,192 |
1,635 |
93.91% |
|
Gaza Strip |
9,232 |
125 |
98.66% |
|
Jerusalem J1* |
2,191 |
20 |
99.10% |
|
Palestine |
36,615 |
1,780 |
95.36% |
5. International recommendations are followed in estimating the missing data, which are mentioned in the Consumer Price Index guide. Moreover, the (Group Relative Method) is one of the best methods used to estimate the missing data, which is the process of estimating the prices based on the change in the prices of the remaining sources for the same category. Accordingly, in case of the closure of an entire source on a temporary basis, all the prices of that source have been estimated based on the change in the prices of the sources that share the same items, which are collected from that source.
6. The estimate also used at the (Next Level Up in Aggregation) in case of the disappearance of the index for a whole sub-group or a higher group reaching up to the major groups that constitute the index.
Notes:
*Data represent those parts of Jerusalem, which were annexed by Israeli Occupation in 1967.
**Data exclude those parts of Jerusalem, which were annexed by Israeli Occupation in 1967.
Please note that the press release in English is brief compared to the Arabic version