Australian Bureau of Statistics
Celebrating the International Year of Statistics 2013

• Summary
• Downloads
• Explanatory Notes
• Related Information
• Past & Future Releases

Overview of publication

1.1. This publication provides a comprehensive description of the Producer and International Trade Price Indexes published by the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS). Topics covered include: what the indexes measure, the items included, the source of the prices information and how the indexes are produced. Some insight is also provided into the kinds of problems encountered by the ABS in compiling these indexes and how these problems are handled.

1.2. Following this introductory chapter are separate chapters for each of the producer and international trade price indexes. These chapters cover index-specific topics such as the nature and purpose of the index, the composition and weighting pattern used, data sources and problem areas.

1.3. More general topics are then covered in the remaining chapters. These include price collection, index calculation, index maintenance and dissemination.

1.4. This publication will be re-issued, from time-to-time, to incorporate updated material for individual price indexes resulting from their periodic rebasing and reweighting.

1.5. More information on topics presented in this publication can be obtained by writing to:

The Director
Producer Price Indexes Section
Australian Bureau of Statistics
PO Box 10
BELCONNEN ACT 2616
or by telephoning the Director, Producer Price Indexes Section, on Canberra (02) 6252 6248