عربي
Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics (PCBS)
Stability in the Consumer Price Index (CPI) August, 08/2020
The overall CPI for Palestine during August 2020 Slightly Increased by 0.03% compared with July 2020 (by 0.29% in Jerusalem J1*, and by 0.20% in Gaza Strip, while it slightly decreased by 0.08% in the West Bank**).
The changes in Palestinian CPI for August 2020 were traced back to changes in prices of the following expenditure sub groups compared with previous month:
|
Sub Groups |
Percent Change |
|
Fresh Chicken |
+ 2.83% |
|
Fish, Live, Fresh, Chilled, or Frozen |
+ 2.78% |
|
Potatoes and other Tubers |
+ 2.40% |
|
Gas |
+ 1.84% |
|
Eggs |
- 6.48% |
|
Fresh Fruit |
- 1.78% |
|
Dried Vegetables |
- 0.53% |
|
Fresh Vegetables |
- 0.44% |
The Palestinian CPI during August 2020 decreased by 2.42% compared with August 2019 (by 2.67% in the West Bank**, by 2.10% in Gaza Strip, and by 0.45% 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 using mobile phones, in all of the Palestinian Governorates interview.
2. The number of outlets, from which Consumer Prices are collected in Palestine, reached 2,664 outlets in August 2020. 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** |
1,670 |
121 |
93.24% |
|
Gaza Strip |
671 |
23 |
96.69% |
|
Jerusalem J1* |
170 |
9 |
94.97% |
|
Total |
2,511 |
153 |
94.26% |
3. All services outlets are excluded from collecting their data for August 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 96.35% was collected in August 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** |
25,812 |
1,015 |
96.22% |
|
Gaza Strip |
9,116 |
241 |
97.42% |
|
Jerusalem J1* |
2,066 |
145 |
93.44% |
|
Palestine |
36,994 |
1,401 |
96.35% |
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