Australia Yearbook - 2001

958 Year Book Australia 2001
28.12 PRICE INDEXES OF ARTICLES PRODUCED
BY MANUFACTURING INDUSTRIES(a)(b)
Year
Manufacturing Division Index
1993–94 108.5
1994–95 110.9
1995–96 113.7
1996–97 114.3
1997–98 115.9
1998–99 115.6
1999–00 120.6
(a) Reference base year 1989–90 = 100.0. (b) For a full
description of Division C, Manufacturing and the subdivisions
within the Manufacturing Division, see the Australian and
New Zealand Standard Industrial Classification
(ANZSIC)(1292.0).
Source: Price Indexes of Articles Produced by Manufacturing
Industry, Australia (6412.0).
Services output price
indexes
In recognition of the increasing contribution of
service industries to the Australian economy, the
ABS has embarked on a long-term development
program to progressively extend the scope of the
producer price indexes into the service sectors of
the economy. This program is an important part
of a broader ABS plan designed to provide a
range of statistics that will improve the
measurement of service industries in the
Australian economy. Similar initiatives are also
being undertaken by statistical agencies in several
other countries.
The first experimental indexes from this program
were published in March 1999, in Information
Paper: Producer Price Index Developments
(6422.0).
In April 2000 the ABS introduced a new quarterly
publication, Producer Price Indexes for Selected
Service Industries, Australia (6423.0). This
publication presents producer price indexes for
the output of the Transport (freight) and Storage
Division, and the Property and Business Services
Division of the Australian and New Zealand
Standard Industrial Classification (ANZSIC). The
Transport (freight) and Storage Division index
contains important freight transport industries
such as road, rail, sea and air. The Property and
Business Services Division index contains services
such as real estate agents and the hire and lease
of machinery and equipment; and a diverse range
of business services including surveying,
computer services, accounting services, market
research and cleaning services. The index
numbers are calculated on the reference base
1998–99 = 100.0.
Indexes for additional service industries will be
released in the publication as they are developed.
The new Services price indexes aim to:
assist in improving the quality of the national
accounts by providing a wider range of
deflators for deriving real measures of
economic growth;
contribute to the development of new
measures of inflation by expanding the
coverage of the indexes compiled under the
Stage of Production framework (see Stage of
production producer price indexes); and
be of use in their own right for industry
analysis.
Complex measurement problems have had to be
overcome in developing the new services price
indexes. Customised approaches to price
collection have had to be adopted on a case-by
case basis because of the tendency in many
service industries to provide one-off, unique
services tailored to each particular customer’s
needs. This has necessitated extensive
consultation with industry associations and
individual businesses to determine the most
viable approach.
Tables 28.13 and 28.14 provide broad level,
summary index series. More detailed indexes are
presented in the quarterly publication Producer
Price Indexes for Selected Service Industries,
Australia (6422.0).