Australia Yearbook - 2001

960 Year Book Australia 2001
28.14 PRODUCER PRICE INDEXES FOR
SELECTED SERVICE INDUSTRIES, Property and
Business Services(a)
Property and
Year
business
services
Property
services
Business
services
1998–99 100.0 100.0 100.0
1999–00 105.6 106.9 103.8
1998
September 98.7 98.3 99.4
December 99.9 99.9 99.8
1999
March 99.8 100.4 99.0
June 101.6 101.4 101.7
September 103.4 103.6 103.1
December 105.0 105.6 104.1
2000
March 105.8 107.8 103.3
June 108.0 110.5 104.6
(a) Reference base year 1998–99 = 100.0.
Source: Producer Price Indexes for Selected Service
Industries (6423.0).
International trade price
indexes
Export Price Index
The Export Price Index measures changes in
prices of exports of merchandise from Australia.
The index numbers for each month relate to prices
of exports actually shipped during the period.
The first index of export prices was compiled
annually from 1901 to 1916–17 as a
current-weighted unit value index.
The method of calculation was changed in 1918 to
incorporate fixed weights, applied to the average
unit values of each export in successive years. This
index was published for the years 1897 to 1929–30.
Two new series of monthly export price indexes
were published in 1937, compiled back to 1928.
One index used fixed weights and the other used
changing weights. The methodology was changed
and actual export prices were used instead of unit
values. The indexes were compiled until 1962.
In 1962, a fixed weighted index on the reference
base of 1959–60 = 100.0 was introduced. In July
1969 a new interim series was linked to this index,
still with a reference base of 1959–60 = 100.0, but
with updated weights. The interim index was
replaced in 1979 by an index on a reference base of
1974–75. The current index, which was changed
from a monthly to a quarterly basis after June 1997,
has a reference base of 1989–90 = 100.0. It was
recently reviewed and reweighted using 1998–99
and 1999–2000 international trade data. The plan is
to update the index weights each year using the
latest trade data.
Index numbers based on the Australian
Harmonised Export Commodity Classification
(AHECC) are contained in table 30.32 of
Chapter 30, International accounts and trade.
The export price index for all groups is provided
for the whole of the last century in table 28.15.
Import Price Index
The Import Price Index measures changes in the
prices of imports of merchandise landed in
Australia using free-on-board prices in the
country of origin. The index numbers for each
quarter relate to prices of imports landed in
Australia during the period.
The first Import Price Index produced by the
ABS covered the period from the September
quarter 1981 to the June quarter 1991 on a
reference base of 1981–82 = 100.0. This index
replaced an index previously published by the
Reserve Bank of Australia on a reference base of
1966–67 = 100.0. The Reserve Bank’s import
price index was published from 1928 until
September 1982.
A new Import Price Index series was introduced
in December 1991 with monthly index numbers
compiled from April 1991 until June 1997 when
the index moved to a quarterly cycle. The current
index has a reference base of 1989–90 = 100.0
and was recently reviewed and reweighted using
1999–2000 international trade data. The plan is to
update the index weights each year using the
latest trade data.
To give a broad indication of changes over the
whole of the last century, table 28.15 draws on
the available international trade indexes. Import
Price Index numbers based on the Standard
International Trade Classification Revision 3
(SITC Rev. 3) are contained in table 30.33 of
Chapter 30, International accounts and trade.