Reference metadata describe statistical concepts and methodologies used for the collection and generation of data. They provide information on data quality and, since they are strongly content-oriented, assist users in interpreting the data. Reference metadata, unlike structural metadata, can be decoupled from the data.
The objective of Import price index (IPI) is to calculate the overall price change over a certain period of time for imported goods to Lithuanian Republic territory. The unit weight and imported good price changes are published over a month, year and from beginning of the year. The statistical information is published in accordance with Statistical Classification of Products by Activity in the European Economic Community (CPA 2.1) divisions (2-digit level), sections (1-letter level) and general IPI, also by Main Industrial Groupings at the national level.
IPI is a relative indicator measuring the overall change in prices for goods purchased by the residents of the country from abroad over a certain period of time.
3.5. Statistical unit
Reporting unit is enterprise.
Observation unit(s) is KAU (Kind of activity unit).
3.6. Statistical population
Enterprises are chosen with a record of stable production and large share of sales in the respective CPA 2.1 product heading, i.e. the selected reporting units should cover more than 50 percent of import in the respective CPA 2.1 product heading. Small enterprises with less than 4 persons employed are not covered.
3.7. Reference area
The entire territory of the country. Activities outside the Lithuanian territory are not included in the data.
3.8. Coverage - Time
Time series cover the period back to 2006.
3.9. Base period
The IPI base period is 2021 (2021 - 100).
Indices, weights, percentage changes (%).
Month.
6.1. Institutional Mandate - legal acts and other agreements
Regulation (EU) 2019/2152 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 27 November 2019 on European business statistics, repealing 10 legal acts in the field of business statistics.
Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2020/1197 of 30 July 2020 laying down technical specifications and arrangements pursuant to Regulation (EU) 2019/2152 of the European Parliament and of the Council on European business statistics repealing 10 legal acts in the field of business statistics.
6.2. Institutional Mandate - data sharing
Data on IPI are transmitted only to Eurostat.
7.1. Confidentiality - policy
Law on Official Statistics;Regulation (EU) 2019/2152 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 27 November 2019 on European business statistics, repealing 10 legal acts in the field of business statistics.
7.2. Confidentiality - data treatment
Statistical Disclosure Control Manual, approved by Order No DĮ-29 of 19 January 2024 of the Director General of Statistics Lithuania, the document is available in Lithuanian only;
The State Data Governance Information System Data Security Regulations and Rules for the Secure Management of Electronic Information in the State Data Governance Information System, approved by Order No DĮ-202 of 27 August 2021 of the Director General of Statistics Lithuania.
Confidential data are not published.
8.1. Release calendar
Statistical information is published on the Official Statistics Portal according to the Official Statistics Calendar.
Statistical information is published on the Official Statistics Portal, according to an approved statistical information release calendar and the Rules for the Preparation and Dissemination of Statistical Information of the State Data Agency. The data are released simultaneously to all interested parties.
IPI is produced and disseminates monthly.
10.1. Dissemination format - News release
Message is published in a news release on rates of change in prices of import goods on the 45th day after the end of the reporting month at 9 a.m.
10.2. Dissemination format - Publications
IPI is published in the following publications of Statistics Lithuania State Data Agency: Lithuania in Figures.
10.3. Dissemination format - online database
The Database of Statistical Indicators provides the monthly IPI (2021=100), as well as rates of change in prices over a month, for the period from the beginning of the year, over twelve months. Database (Economy and finance→Price, indices, changes and prices→Import price index, price changes and index weights)
10.4. Dissemination format - microdata access
The State Data Agency may, on the basis of contracts concluded with higher education institutions or research institutes, provide statistical data to researchers of these higher education institutions and research institutes to carry out specific statistical analyses for research purposes. Statistical data are provided in accordance with the provisions specified in the Description of Procedure for Data Depersonalisation and Pseudonymisation, the document is available in Lithuanian only. More information is available on the Official Statistics Portal, in the section Data Provision, the document is available in Lithuanian only.
10.5. Dissemination format - other
Data are sent to Eurostat.
10.6. Documentation on methodology
A complete description of the methodology used to compile the IPI is published on the Official Statistics Portal: Methodological documentation.
10.7. Quality management - documentation
Quality indicators for IPI is prepared (in Lithuanian and English) each month and published on the Official Statistics Portal under Metadata.
On 24 August 2018 the State Data Agency was certified in accordance with LST EN ISO / IEC 27001: 2017 standard for the first time.
In 2019, a quality management system, conforming with the requirements of the international quality management system standard ISO 9001:2015, was introduced at the State Data Agency and in 2022 it was re-certified for the sixth time in turn according to the ISO 9001:2015 version.
11.2. Quality management - assessment
The quality of the data corresponds requirements of accuracy, timeliness and punctuality, comparability and compatibility. A self-assessment of statistical survey managers indicating the quality of the indicator was performed, statistical questionnaires used to collect statistical data were tested.
12.1. Relevance - User Needs
The main users are the Bank of Lithuania, State and Municipal Institutions, Agencies, International Organizations, the Media, Business and Academia, students whose needs are satisfied without a breach of the confidentiality principle.
12.2. Relevance - User Satisfaction
From 2005, user opinion surveys have been conducted on a regular basis. Official Statistics Portal traffic is monitored, website visitor opinion polls, general opinion poll on the products and services of the State Data Agency, target user group opinion polls and other surveys are conducted.
In 2007, the compilation of a user satisfaction index was launched. The said surveys are aimed at the assessment of the overall demand for and necessity of statistical information in general and specific statistical indicators in particular.
More information on user opinion surveys and results thereof are published in the User Surveys section on the State Data Agency of Lithuania website.
12.3. Completeness
Statistical information compatible with the Regulation and published in accordance with the classification levels.
IPI is published according to the CPA 2.1 divisions (2-digit level), sections (1-letter level) and all-items IPI, also by the Main Industrial Groupings at the national level. Comparable data are available since 2006. All-items IPI is published according Euro area and non Euro area since 2010.
13.1. Accuracy - overall
Data collection is based on a sample from enterprises. Data is collected by web questionnaire and obtained from the Foreign trade statistics database, using the data validation rules. Received IPI results are analyzed, looking for errors, which may affect the final results. Monthly price changes are calculated, more attention is paid to whose representative cost elements price changes, which are ≥ 10 and ≤ -10 percent, as well as those prices, which changed due to the quality, the change of the season. Also, special attention is paid to those price changes, which most influence the general change in the IPI.
13.2. Sampling error
Sampling error cannot be calculated because the survey is not conducted on the basis of a random sample. As cut-off method is used in sampling, it is not possible to obtain sampling errors. The sample is updated annually. In 2024, for the IPI calculation, 1056 enterprises were providing import prices for abaut 3 431 items. Enterprises with the largest share (by value) in the respective CN code are involved into import prices survey. For further price collection the enterprises are selecting representative products that are imported regularly and in the large amounts.
13.3. Non-sampling error
The response rate is 100%. Reminder e-mails are used to maintain high response rate.An online price data collection system has been developed to reduce the response burden and obtain good quality data. Each month, on average, about 25% of prices are not collected for various reasons (due to seasonality about 18% and due to other reasons about 7%). Missing prices are estimated using the appropriate methods.
The Electronic business statistics compilation and transmission system e. Statistics and electronic forms of a KA-24 questionnaire (annual) and a KA-25 (monthly) is used for the statistical data collection. Database ORACLE and MS Excel is used for import prices validation and IPI calculation.
Imputation: In order to correct the non-sampling errors, due to a lack of response or quality change, imputations and quality adjustments are carried out (also see point 18.6).
Data editing: the primary statistical data verification is carried out by Data Preparation Divisions, the secondary – by central staff of Price Statistics Division (also see point 18.4).
Coding: The products’ are coded according to the Combined Nomenclature based on the information provided by the respondents.
Models are not used in the IPI.
14.1. Timeliness
On the 45th day after the end of the reporting month, at 9:00 a.m. (local time)
The same statistical concepts and classifications are applied in the entire national territory. Definitions and classifications applied accordance requirements of EU regulations.
15.2. Comparability - over time
The overall quarterly import unit value indices time series is directly linked with IPI time series. From 2006, imported products have been classified and IPIs have been calculated and published based on the CPA 2.1. Before 2006, the Combined Nomenclature was applied; therefore, price indices at a more detailed level are not comparable. IPIs at a more detailed CPA 2.1 level are comparable since 2006.
15.3. Coherence - cross domain
Not available.
15.4. Coherence - internal
The IPI is internally coherent. Lower level aggregations are derived to the higher level indices according CPA 2.1.
Time spent by respondents on the filling in of questionnaire KA-24 (annual) makes, on average, 70 min, of questionnaire KA-25 (monthly) – about 20 min.
In 2024 the costs of the NSI where 5636,35 hours per year, burden of respondents – 6055 hours per year.
The IPI revision procedure is published on the Official Statistics Portal.
17.2. Data revision - practice
The IPI for the reference month may be revised due to the supplementation, refinement of and errors detected in primary statistical data used to calculate the statistical indicator. The revised indices and price changes are clearly identifierd. Users are made aware of the data revisions in footnotes to the publications, and, where necessary, the footnotes are also accompanied by explanatory notes. The size of MAR and MR for 2024 year was 0,0%. Revisions are conducted in accordance with an approved statistical information revision calendar:revision calendar.
18.1. Source data
The source of statistical information for the preparation of a weighting structure is foreign trade statistics on the volume of imports for the previous year in value terms. Additional source of statistical information is foreign trade statistical data on imported goods value and amounts.
18.2. Frequency of data collection
Prices are collected monthly.
18.3. Data collection
Statistical data on the annual sales volume of representative goods in value terms are received from a statistical questionnaire KA-24 (annual). Statistical data on prices for representative goods are received from a statistical questionnaire KA-25 (monthly). The specialists of the Data Preparations Divisions of Statistics Lithuania collect statistical data, perform control and correct the errors detected. Foreign trade statistics database is used for obtaining monthly information on unit values.
An additional source of statistical data for calculating IPI is the foreign trade statistical data of the reporting month on the value and quantity of exported goods.
Statistical reporting forms are regularly reviewed and, if necessary, improved (last tested in 2023), in order to reduce the statistical reporting burden on respondents.
To collect statistical data is used Electronic business statistics compilation and transmission system e-Statistics or paper and electronic forms of KA-24 questionnaire (annual) and KA-25 (monthly) questionnaire which are placed Statistical questionnaire, the document is available in Lithuanian only.
18.4. Data validation
Statistical data control requirements are provided in research of the technical programming task. Errors protocol is formed from the discovered errors. Error code, error text, error attribute indicates wheather the error must be fixed or may be ignored. Errors can be logical and arithmetical or made by the respondent in the submission or processing stage. To ensure the statistical data quality, the, in addition, the primary data check is performed (secondary corrections, statistical data acceptant confirmation). The control of error protocol, entered statistical data completeness and reliability, analyzed indicators associations and etc. are performed. The statistical data are corrected accordingly errors types: ignored or must be corrected. The decision to correct or not correct the error is taken by the responsible for inspectation employee, while the must by fixed errors are always corrected.
18.5. Data compilation
The IPI is calculated from the lowest level, i.e. representative products, to the highest level, i.e. the all-items IPI. In calculating the IPI, the Laspeyres formula is applied. The lowest level price indices are then aggregated into higher level price indices according to the Laspeyres formula according to CPA classification levels: subcategories (6 symbols level), categories (5 symbols level), classes (4 symbols level), groups (3 symbols level), divisions (2 symbols level), sections (1 letter level) and general IPI. Fixed base weights are used for agregation. The reporting year IPI are linked to previous year IPI using chain method. The linking period is the previous year.
18.6. Adjustment
Primary statistical data of prices are adjusted due to changes in the products quality. Where the quality of the new (replacement) representative product is considerably different from that of the original (replaced) one, the impact of the change in quality on the price rise or drop is estimated. In order to maintain comparability between the price of the new (replacement) and the original (replaced) product, the quality of the products must be harmonised. The quality of the products is harmonised by correcting the price of the original (replaced) product in the base period through eliminating the influence of quality change. This is calculated by adjusting the replaced product base price, removing the impact of changes in quality.
Price indices are not seasonally adjusted.
Not applicable.
The objective of Import price index (IPI) is to calculate the overall price change over a certain period of time for imported goods to Lithuanian Republic territory. The unit weight and imported good price changes are published over a month, year and from beginning of the year. The statistical information is published in accordance with Statistical Classification of Products by Activity in the European Economic Community (CPA 2.1) divisions (2-digit level), sections (1-letter level) and general IPI, also by Main Industrial Groupings at the national level.
IPI is a relative indicator measuring the overall change in prices for goods purchased by the residents of the country from abroad over a certain period of time.
Reporting unit is enterprise.
Observation unit(s) is KAU (Kind of activity unit).
Enterprises are chosen with a record of stable production and large share of sales in the respective CPA 2.1 product heading, i.e. the selected reporting units should cover more than 50 percent of import in the respective CPA 2.1 product heading. Small enterprises with less than 4 persons employed are not covered.
The entire territory of the country. Activities outside the Lithuanian territory are not included in the data.
Month.
Data collection is based on a sample from enterprises. Data is collected by web questionnaire and obtained from the Foreign trade statistics database, using the data validation rules. Received IPI results are analyzed, looking for errors, which may affect the final results. Monthly price changes are calculated, more attention is paid to whose representative cost elements price changes, which are ≥ 10 and ≤ -10 percent, as well as those prices, which changed due to the quality, the change of the season. Also, special attention is paid to those price changes, which most influence the general change in the IPI.
Indices, weights, percentage changes (%).
The IPI is calculated from the lowest level, i.e. representative products, to the highest level, i.e. the all-items IPI. In calculating the IPI, the Laspeyres formula is applied. The lowest level price indices are then aggregated into higher level price indices according to the Laspeyres formula according to CPA classification levels: subcategories (6 symbols level), categories (5 symbols level), classes (4 symbols level), groups (3 symbols level), divisions (2 symbols level), sections (1 letter level) and general IPI. Fixed base weights are used for agregation. The reporting year IPI are linked to previous year IPI using chain method. The linking period is the previous year.
The source of statistical information for the preparation of a weighting structure is foreign trade statistics on the volume of imports for the previous year in value terms. Additional source of statistical information is foreign trade statistical data on imported goods value and amounts.
IPI is produced and disseminates monthly.
On the 45th day after the end of the reporting month, at 9:00 a.m. (local time)
The same statistical concepts and classifications are applied in the entire national territory. Definitions and classifications applied accordance requirements of EU regulations.
The overall quarterly import unit value indices time series is directly linked with IPI time series. From 2006, imported products have been classified and IPIs have been calculated and published based on the CPA 2.1. Before 2006, the Combined Nomenclature was applied; therefore, price indices at a more detailed level are not comparable. IPIs at a more detailed CPA 2.1 level are comparable since 2006.
