Glossary of Terms

Glossary of Terms

Income and Prices

Base Period - usually a year, is the reference period of the index number. It
is the period at which the index is set to 100.

Consumer Price Index (CPI) - measure of the average changes in the
prices of a fixed basket of goods and services usually purchased by
households for their consumption.

Wholesale Price Index (WPI) - measure of the changes in the price level
of commodities that flow into the wholesale trade intermediaries.

Retail Price Index (RPI) - measure of the changes of the prices at which
retailers dispose of their goods to consumers and end-users.

Source: National Statistics Office

Family expenditures - refer to the expenses or disbursements made by the
             family purely for personal consumption during the calendar year
             1997. They exclude all expenses in relation to farm or business
             operation, investment ventures, purchase of real property and other
             disbursements which do not involve personal consumption.

Income from other sources - include imputed rental values of owner-
             occupied dwelling units, interests, rentals including landowner's share
             of agricultural products, pensions, support and the value of food and
             non-food items received as gifts by the family (as well as the
             imputed value of services rendered free of charge to the family).

Per capita income - is obtained by dividing the total family income by the
total number of family members.

Primary income includes salaries and wages, commissions, tips, bonuses,
             family and clothing allowance, transportation and representation
             allowances, honoraria, and other forms of compensation and net
             receipts derived from the operation of family-operated enterprises/
             activities and the practice of a profession or trade.

Total family income - includes primary income and receipts from other
             sources received by all family members during the calendar year
            1991 as participants in any economic activity or as recipients of
             transfers, pensions, grants, etc.

Source: 1997 Family Income and Expenditure Survey

Magnitude of the Poor - the number of families or the population whose
annual per capita income falls below the subsistence/poverty
threshold.

Poverty Incidence - proportion of families/population whose annual per
capita income falls below the annual per capita poverty threshold to
the total number of families/population.

Poverty Threshold – annual per capita income required or the amount to be
spent to satisfy nutritional requirements (2,000 Kcal) and other basic
needs.

Subsistence Incidence - proportion of families/population whose annual
per capita income falls below the annual per capita food/subsistence
threshold to the total number of families/population.

Subsistence and Food Threshold – annual per capita income required or
the amount to be spent to satisfy nutritional requirements (2,000
Kcal).

Source : TWG on Income Statistics, NSCB

Glossary of Terms