Statistical Office of Montenegro - MONSTAT

Department for price statistics and foreign trade statistics

IV Proleterske br. 2, 81000 Podgorica, Montenegro  

The purpose of producer price index survey is to collect the data on monthly price changes of industrial products produced and sold by enterprises on the domestic market. Producer price index of industrial products represent important economic indicator which can be used as an inflation measure; as time series deflator, especially for needs of National Accounts and industry, and as a tool for harmonising prices when concluding various sales contracts.

NACE Rev. 2, CPA Version 2008

Indices are calculated for the following sections of industrial activity: B (Mining and quarrying), C (Manufacturing), and D (Electricity, gas, steam and air conditioning supply) of NACE Rev. 2 classification.

Producer prices of manufactured products are the prices that industrial manufacturers apply in selling the products of their own production range to commercial and other enterprises in the domestic market. The selling price is increased for the amount of the compensation obtained by the seller and deducted for the amount of the discount and rebate as well as the value added tax and excises.

Producer price indices are relative numbers that show changes in producer prices from period to period. Price indices are calculated for certain products (individual indices), for groups of products and for all products included in the list (total index).

The monthly index shows by how much on average prices in the current month changed in comparison with the previous month.

The quarterly index shows by how much on average prices in the current quarter changed in comparison with the previous quarter.

The annual index shows by how much on average prices changed in the last 12 months.

The average annual index shows by how much on average prices changed in the last n months of the current year compared to the same period of the previous year.

Reporting units are enterprises and KAU with the main activity in sections B (Mining and quarrying), C (Manufacturing) and D (Electricity, gas, steam and air conditioning supply) of NACE Rev. 2 classification.

The frame is based on the data from the Statistical Business Register of the Statistical Office of Montenegro and includes all active businesses in the section B (Mining and quarrying), C (Manufacturing) and D (Electricity, gas, steam and air-conditioning supply). Enterprises and entrepreneurs that have turnover = 0 are excluded from the scope. The list of reporting units includes all enterprises with 5 and more employees. There are around 313 reporting units.

PPI covers the whole territory of Montenegro.

Statistical Office of Montenegro has been carrying out the Producer price index survey from 1982. From the beginning of 2010 the time series are sent to Eurostat.

The base year is 2015.

Indices.

Month.

The Law on Official Statistics and Official Statistical System (Official Gazette of Montenegro No 18/12) defines provisions for collection, processing and dissemination of data. The Law provides to the Statistical Office clear and wide legal powers to collect and access the data necessary for the implementation of Programme and Annual Plan. The Law gives a priority to the use of administrative data and right of access to individual data that are a result of survey of other official statistical producers. As an annex to legal provisions, Statistical Office has signed several memoranda on cooperation with administrative data providers.

When it comes to European Union legislation, the Producer price index survey is conducted in accordance with European Business Statistics (EBS) Regulation (EU) 2019/2152 on 27 November 2019, followed by the Commission Implementing Regulation 2020/1197.

Signed agreement on cooperation with the official statistical producers: 

1. Ministry of Finance
2. Central Bank of Montenegro
3. Trilateral agreement (MONSTAT, Ministry of Finance, and Central Bank of Montenegro)

International institutions:
1. EUROSTAT
2. UN organizations
3. IMF
4. World Bank

Articles 53-60 of the Law on Official Statistics and Official Statistical System (Official Gazette of Montenegro No 18/12) provide a framework for protection, use, and transmission of confidential data. MONSTAT has produced two comprehensive rulebooks that cover the procedures for individual data protection as well as keeping individual records. With purpose of the meeting legal framework on functioning of security system and statistical confidentiality there was adopted the Rulebook on keeping statistical data by which manner, time, technical conditions and organization of statistical data storage to prevent their destroying, misappropriation, and unauthorized use is regulated as well as the Rulebook on contents and manner of keeping records on users of individual statistical data by which contents and manner of keeping records on users of individual statistical data is regular. 

Pursuant to the Article 59, an access to the confidential data is limited to persons performing duties and tasks of official statistical producer and up to the stage the data are necessary for official statistical production. Persons that performs duties and tasks within official statistical producers must sign the statement on respecting the principle of confidentiality.
Law on Official Statistics and Official Statistical System is aligned with the Regulation No 223/2009 and the Regulation (EU) 2015/759 from 29 April 2015 that also regulates confidentiality provisions.
The Government of Montenegro adopted the Statement on Commitment of Confidence in Official Statistics (Commitment of Confidence).

Employees of the Statistical Office of Montenegro sign confidentiality statements and legal actions are foreseen for the intentional violation of the confidentiality of statistical data.
Article 54 of the Law on Official Statistics and Official Statistical System (Official Gazette of Montenegro No 18 /12) stipulates that the data collected, processed, and stored for the purposes of official statistics are considered confidential, if it is possible, on the basis of these data, to directly or indirectly identify reporting units, thus reveal individual data. The reporting unit is directly identified by name, address, or by the assigned identification number. If the reporting units gave explicit consent for the use of specific data, that data shall not be considered confidential.

The Law on Official Statistics and Official Statistical System (Official Gazette of Montenegro No 18/12) stipulates that official statistical producers prepare, update, and publish Statistical Release Calendar. It is published on the website of Statistical Office not later than 20 December for the next year, for all official statistical producers that includes date of releasing statistical data. Any change in date of releasing in the Calendar is published in advance in accordance with the Procedure on Unplanned Revisions.

Statistical Release Calendar is available at the following link: 

https://www.monstat.org/eng/page.php?id=1767&pageid=30

General aim of official statistical producer is to meet the needs of users, and to make an access to statistical data to users in an understandable manner, simultaneously and under the same conditions. Statistical Office is obliged to produce and disseminate official statistics in objective, transparent and professional manner, so that all users are equally treated. 

Data are sent monthly to Eurostat, and published quarterly on our website.

Data are available in the form of monthly releases on the official website: 

http://monstat.org/eng/page.php?id=414&pageid=30

From 2021 data are published in form of quarterly releases, and monthly data are available in Monthly Statistical Review on the following link:

https://monstat.org/eng/publikacije_page.php?id=1747

Statistical Office publishes the following regular publications:
1. Monthly Statistical Review,
2. Statistical Yearbook,
3. Montenegro in figures.
All publication published by Statistical Office are available at the following link: 

http://monstat.org/eng/publikacije.php

Monthly releases from January 2011 are available on the following link:

http://www.monstat.org/eng/page.php?id=414&pageid=30

Annual and monthly indices from January 2001 are available on the following link:

http://www.monstat.org/eng/page.php?id=30&pageid=30

The Law on Official Statistics and Official Statistical System (Official Gazette of Montenegro No 18/12) regulates rules under which external users can obtain an access to individual data for needs of research. Article 58 defines types of scientific and research organizations that can obtain such data. Providing individual data without identifier is possible only upon a written request of scientific and research institutions, with purpose of performing scientific and research activities as well as international statistical organizations and statistical producers from other countries.
Research entity signs the agreement with Statistical Office, and it signs the statement on respecting the confidentiality principle.
Official statistical producers keeps a separate records on users and purpose of using the statistical data given to these users.

Data on Producer price index are regularly (monthly) submitted to EUROSTAT via the eDAMIS web portal.

Short methodology of survey is available on the following link: 

http://monstat.org/eng/page.php?id=30&pageid=30

The Law on Official Statistics and Official Statistical System (Official Gazette of Montenegro No 18/12) defines the commitment to quality which ensures that official statistical producers in Montenegro work and cooperate in accordance with the international principles of statistical system quality. Development Strategy and Programme of Official Statistics for 2014-2018 define the objectives of development. One of objectives is quality management via monitoring the implementation of European Statistical Code of Practice.

Pursuant to the ESS Quality Declaration, Article 338 of the Contract on EU Functioning, Regulation 759/2015 and Regulation 223/2009 as well as European Statistical Code of Practice, the following documents are in adoption procedure:

1. Quality Strategy of Statistical Office,

2. Guide for Implementation of Quality Strategy in Statistical Office,

3. Implementation Plan.

Statistical Office has chosen the implementation of elements of TQM (Total Quality Management) model that foster development and improvement of functioning of:
- Institution,
- Official statistical result production, and
- Individual.
Within middle-term deadline, Statistical Office has chosen the TQM implementation through the following objectives:
1. Strong commitment to users and other interested parties,
2. Quality statistical processes and products,
3. Professional orientation of staff members,
4. Constant improvements,
5. Reduction of overburden of reporting units.
Producer price indices are very relevant for domestic and international users, as well as internally for the needs of national accounts. The aim is to gather reliable research data and provide a high level of accuracy. The calculation of the index is based on the recommended international methodology. Publishing of the results is always accurate, timely and easily accessible. The aim is to ensure international comparability using the EU and relevant international concepts, definitions and classifications. Comparability with other statistical domains is ensured above all with PRODCOM.

Not available.

The Statistical Office has adopted the Quality Management Strategy, the Guidebook to the Implementation of the Quality Management Strategy, as well as the Plan for the Implementation of the Quality Policy. In order to measure the degree to which fulfills obligations towards users and within the new quality policy, the Statistical Office conducted User satisfaction survey. Data collection was carried out through a web survey, in the period from 6 March to 27 April 2020.

The results of the survey are available on the Statistical Office website, link:

https://www.monstat.org/uploads/files/kvalitet/2.%20Izvjestaj%20o%20zadovoljstvu%20korisnika%20-%202022_FINAL%20engleska.pdf 

All national requirements are fulfilled.

The accuracy of Producer price index survey is generally considered to be high. The accuracy of source data is monitored by assessing the methodological soundness of price and weight sources and the adherence to the methodological recommendations. Appropriate actions are taken to identify and eliminate potential sources of errors.

Sampling error cannot be calculated because the survey was not conducted on the basis of a random sample.

The response rate is about 70%. Depending on size or representativeness, companies are contacted by phone in order to provide data on time. The price of the temporarily unavailable product is determined by contacting the company from which it is required to estimate/assess the missing price or to repeat the last declared price. In cases where an industrial enterprise ceases to produce a product of a certain quality for which prices are collected, or if the product of that quality is 'non-marketable goods' then a new product of a certain quality that is best sold is defined, and it is expected to be sold in a longer period of time and in large quantities. Prices for the new selected quality product are given simultaneously for the current and previous month. Companies are obliged to explain any change in quality.

The data are published on a date which is defined by Statistical Release Calendar - quarterly, and sent monthly to Eurostat.

All PPI data are published in accordance with the Statistical Release Calendar for 2022.

The methodology of survey is compliant with the EU Regulations to a great extent, which makes it comparable between the countries.

The data according to NACE Rev. 2 classification are available from 2010.

Coherence between domains was achieved with the annual PRODCOM survey on industrial production. Data from PRODCOM survey are used in calculation of weights and updating of the sample.

The data are internally coherent. Higher levels of aggregation are derived from elementary indices according to pre-defined procedures.

Not available.

Statistical Office has adopted the revision policy and it is available on the website:

http://www.monstat.org/eng/page.php?id=1411&pageid=1411

The revision policy is applied nationally and in transmissions to Eurostat.

Significant revisions have only been made to reflect changes in methodology. We update figures all the time in the new press release with the remarks. The biggest revision is happen when we change base year. 

A statistical calendar is published on the website. A link to the MONSTAT website:

https://monstat.org/uploads/files/O%20NAMA/Kalendar2022_eng.pdf

Routine revisions, related to replacing estimated data with the subsequently reported data, are not carried out, because all data are available according to the deadlines.

If error occurs, corrected data are published in the next issue of First release. Data changed in relation to the first released are disseminated with a comment.

The requiered indicators MR and MAR has not been calculated yet. 

Size of revisions has not been calculated yet.

The main source of data for the calculation of the Producer price index of industrial products is the monthly survey on producer prices of industrial products. This survey includes companies classified in the sections of mining and quarrying, manufacturing and supply of electricity, gas, steam and air of the NACE Rev. 2 classification, with more than five employees that meet the unit of measurement prescribed by the Nomenclature of industrial products per unit of product. It also includes companies classified in other sections of the NACE Rev. 2 classification, which are composed of industrial drives or other organizational forms that are engaged in industrial production. Sample and weights are based on annual industrial survey. The most important products in each division have been selected for price changes monitoring, i.e. products with the highest sale on the domestic market. Producers are selected according to their participation in the production of certain products.

Monthly.

Reporting method is used for data collection. Questionnaires are filled by reporting units between the 14th and 16th of each month for the current month. The selling prices of manufactured products are the prices at which the producers sell their products to regular customers on the domestic market in the largest quantities. Reporting unites provide prices for the current and previous month. If there were no sales in the reporting month, the reporting unit should enter the price at which sales would be carried out if the customer appeared.

Data validation is performed in accordance with defined criteria of control. The validation is performed before and after the data are entered. Reporting units confirm the price of products by entering the prices for the current and previous month and, if any changes occur, they need to be explained in the questionnaire. In case of major deviations, reporting units are contacted. Calculated indices are also checked before publishing.

Producer price indices are relative numbers that show changes in producer prices from period to period. Price indices are calculated for certain products (individual indices), for groups of products and for all products included in the index list (total index). Prices of products are used for calculation of elementary indices, and calculation of aggregate indices is carried out by weighting individual indices according to the Laspeyeres formula. For the purposes of this survey, December of the previous year is used as a price reference period. Weights are based on annual industrial survey.

The adjustment of data is not made.

Not available.