- Methods and Projects
- Standards and Classifications
Standardised Methodological Report
Energy and Material Price Indices and National Labour Force Indices
- 1Contact
- 1.1Contact organisation
National Statistics Institute of Spain
- 1.5Contact mail address
Avenida de Manoteras 50-52 - 28050 Madrid
- 1.1Contact organisation
- 2Metadata update
- 2.1Metadata last certified
22/03/2021
- 2.2Metadata last posted
07/02/2019
- 2.3Metadata last update
22/03/2021
- 2.1Metadata last certified
- 3Statistical presentation
- 3.1Data description
The price indices of construction materials together with the national labour index constitute the components that intervene in the standard formulas for the revision of prices of Public Administrations contracts.
For the materials price indices, the data are obtained from the Industrial Price Index (IPRI). They therefore measure the evolution of the prices of construction materials manufactured and sold on the domestic market, in the first step of their commercialisation, i.e. of ex-factory sales prices, excluding transport and commercialisation costs and invoiced VAT.
The labour price index is calculated on the basis of the general CPI data.
- 3.2Classification system
- Materiales
1 Cemento
2 Cerámica
3 Madera
4 Acero
5 Energía
6 Cobre
7 Aluminio
8 Ligantes - Materiales específicos
1 Cabezas explosivas
2 Materiales textiles
3 Materiales para fabricación de calzado
4 Materiales minerales no metálicos
5 Materiales y equipos eléctricos - Materiales generales
1 Aluminio
2 Materiales bituminosos
3 Cemento
4 Energía
5 Focos y luminarias
6 Materiales cerámicos
7 Madera
8 Productos plásticos
9 Productos químicos
10 Áridos y rocas
11 Materiales siderúrgicos
12 Materiales electrónicos
13 Cobre
14 Vidrio
15 Materiales explosivos
- Materiales
- 3.3Sector coverage
The materials price index covers the following materials: "A. Aluminium", "B. Bituminous materials", "C. Cement", "E. Energy", "F. Light bulbs and luminaries", "L. Ceramic materials", "M. Wood", "O. Plants", "P. Plastic products", "Q. Chemical products", "R. Aggregates and rocks", "S. Iron and steel materials", "T. Electronic materials", "U. Copper", "V. Glass", "X. Explosive materials", "H. Textile materials", "J. Footwear materials", "D. Explosive heads", "W. Non-metallic mineral materials", "Y. Electrical materials and equipment".
On the other hand, the labour price index covers all household consumption items.
- 3.4Statistical concepts and definitions
- Adjustment due to change in quality
Estimate of the part of the price difference between the new item (substitute) and the old one (substituted) due to the difference in quality between the two.
- Aggregate index
Weighted arithmetic average of basic indices.
- Basic Index
Quotient between the average price for the current month and the average price for December of the previous year (multiplied by 100). The indices have no measurement unit and show price variation from the base period until the current month.
- Basket
Set of products for which the price is collected monthly.
- Change in quality
A change that occurs when a subvariety of the basket is substituted by another with different features, that imply a change in usefulness of the product.
- Contribution
The contribution of a product measures how much the general index would change if only the price of the aforementioned product changed (in other words, if the other prices remain constant).
- Domestic market industrial prices
Prices considered for calculating the IPRI are sale prices valid on the 15th of each reference month, not including VAT or other indirect taxes invoiced or transport costs and marketing, and including all reductions or discounts.
- Product or aggregate weight
The weight of a product or aggregate is the relative importance it has in relation to the rest of products or aggregates in the basket, according to expenditure/income.
- Sub-variety
Specific model of a product in a specific industrial establishment for which the price is collected monthly.
- Variation
This shows the evolution of prices between the time periods.
- Adjustment due to change in quality
- 3.5Statistical unit
Establishments which manufacture industrial products and sell them on the domestic market.
- 3.6Statistical population
All establishments which manufacture industrial products and sell them on the domestic market.
- 3.7Reference area
The geographical scope is the entire national territory, except for Ceuta and Melilla.
- 3.8Time coverage
The results of the survey are available since January 1995.
- 3.9Base period
The base period or reference period of the index is December 2011 equal to 100 (Dec-11=100)
- 3.1Data description
- 4Unit of measure
- 4.1Unit of measure
- 4.1Unit of measure
- 5Reference period
- 5.1Reference period
The reference period of the data is the month.
Data referred to the period: Mensual A: 2021 MES: 03
- 5.1Reference period
- 6Institutional mandate
- 6.1Legal acts and other agreements
The compilation and dissemination of the data are governed by the Statistical Law No. 12/1989 "Public Statistical Function" of May 9, 1989, and Law No. 4/1990 of June 29 on “National Budget of State for the year 1990" amended by Law No. 13/1996 "Fiscal, administrative and social measures" of December 30, 1996, makes compulsory all statistics included in the National Statistics Plan. The National Statistical Plan 2009-2012 was approved by the Royal Decree 1663/2008. It contains the statistics that must be developed in the four year period by the State General Administration's services or any other entity dependent on it. All statistics included in the National Statistics Plan are statistics for state purposes and are obligatory. The National Statistics Plan 2021-2024, approved by Royal Decree 1110/2020, of 15 December, is the Plan currently implemented. This statistical operation has governmental purposes, and it is included in the National Statistics Plan 2021-2024. (Statistics of the State Administration).
The materials price indices are subject to Order HAP/1292/2013, of 28 June, which establishes the rules for determining the indices that intervene in the price revision formulas of public contracts.
- 6.2Data sharing
The exchanges of information needed to elaborate statistics between the INE and the rest of the State statistical offices (Ministerial Departments, independent bodies and administrative bodies depending on the State General Administration), or between these offices and the Autonomic statistical offices, are regulated in the LFEP (Law of the Public Statistic Function). This law also regulates the mechanisms of statistical coordination, and concludes cooperation agreements between the different offices when necessary.
In relation to this operation there is no exchange of information with other statistics producer bodies.
- 6.1Legal acts and other agreements
- 7Confidentiality
- 7.1Confidentiality - policy
The Statistical Law No. 12/1989 specifies that the INE cannot publish, or make otherwise available, individual data or statistics that would enable the identification of data for any individual person or entity. Regulation (EC) No 223/2009 on European statistics stipulates the need to establish common principles and guidelines ensuring the confidentiality of data used for the production of European statistics and the access to those confidential data with due account for technical developments and the requirements of users in a democratic society
- 7.2Confidentiality - data treatment
INE provides information on the protection of confidentiality at all stages of the statistical process: INE questionnaires for the operations in the national statistical plan include a legal clause protecting data under statistical confidentiality. Notices prior to data collection announcing a statistical operation notify respondents that data are subject to statistical confidentiality at all stages. For data processing, INE employees have available the INE data protection handbook, which specifies the steps that should be taken at each stage of processing to ensure reporting units' individual data are protected. The microdata files provided to users are anonymised.
All materials included in this operation contain enough respondents, thus confidentiality is preserved.
- 7.1Confidentiality - policy
- 8Release policy
- 8.1Release calendar
The advance release calendar that shows the precise release dates for the coming year is disseminated in the last quarter of each year.
- 8.2Release calendar access
The calendar is disseminated on the INEs Internet website (Publications Calendar)
- 8.3User access
The data are released simultaneously according to the advance release calendar to all interested parties by issuing the press release. At the same time, the data are posted on the INE's Internet website (www.ine.es/en) almost immediately after the press release is issued. Also some predefined tailor-made requests are sent to registered users. Some users could receive partial information under embargo as it is publicly described in the European Statistics Code of Practice
- 8.1Release calendar
- 9Frequency of dissemination
- 9.1Frequency of dissemination
The publication of materials price indices and national labour indices is done once they are approved by the High Committee on State Contract Prices, attached to the Ministry of Finance and Civil Service, and have followed the legal procedures for their publication in the Official State Gazette. Therefore, there is no established frequency for data publication.
- 9.1Frequency of dissemination
- 10Accessibility and clarity
- 10.1News release
The results of the statistical operations are normally disseminated by using press releases that can be accessed via both the corresponding menu and the Press Releases Section in the web
Given the peculiarity of this statistic, which is calculated for the High Committee on Prices and published in the Official State Gazette, once the indices have been approved in the committee, no Press Release is prepared for its dissemination.
- 10.2Publications
The publication of the data of this operation is included in the Official State Gazette.
- 10.3On-line database
INEbase is the system the INE uses to store statistical information on the Internet. It contains all the information the INE produces in electronic formats. The primary organisation of the information follows the theme-based classification of the Inventory of Statistical Operations of the State General Administration . The basic unit of INEbase is the statistical operation, defined as the set of activities that lead to obtaining statistical results on a determined sector or subject based on the individually collected data. Also included in the scope of this definition are synthesis preparation.
The online database of the Materials and Labour Price Index, which contains information on indices, is included in the Industry, Energy and Construction section Industry, energy and construction of INEBase.
Number of entries to data bases in 2020 was AC1=38,270.
- 10.4Micro-data access
A lot of statistical operations disseminate public domain anonymized files, available free of charge for downloading in the INE website Microdata Section
No microdata information is provided.
- 10.5Other
- 10.6Documentation on methodology
Base Jan-64
- 10.7Quality documentation
This standardised methodological report contains all the elements of what is considered a "User-oriented Quality Report" for this operation.
- 10.1News release
- 11Quality management
- 11.1Quality assurance
Quality assurance framework for the INE statistics is based on the ESSCoP, the European Statistics Code of Practice made by EUROSTAT. The ESSCoP is made up of 16 principles, gathered in three areas: Institutional Environment, Processes and Products. Each principle is associated with some indicators which make possible to measure it. In order to evaluate quality, EUROSTAT provides different tools: the indicators mentioned above, Self-assessment based on the DESAP model, peer review, user satisfaction surveys and other proceedings for evaluation.
Since these price indices are obtained by aggregating indices from the Industrial Price Index, this guarantees the quality of this statistic.
The IPRI quality management documentation can be consulted in point 11 of the IPRI reference metadata.
- 11.2Quality assessment
Obtaining materials price indices from the IPRI indices ensures a continuous assessment of the quality of the data and does not increase the burden on the respondents.
The IPRI quality management documentation can be found in point 11 of the IPRI reference metadata.
- 11.1Quality assurance
- 12Relevance
- 12.1User needs
The main users of the materials price indices are companies that have contracts with the Public Administrations.
The main application of these indices is their use in the revision of prices of Public Administration contracts.
- 12.2User satisfaction
The INE has carried out general user satisfaction surveys in 2007, 2010, 2013, 2016 and 2019 and it plans to continue doing so every three years. The purpose of these surveys is to find out what users think about the quality of the information of the INE statistics and the extent to which their needs of information are covered. In addition, additional surveys are carried out in order to acknowledge better other fields such as dissemination of the information, quality of some publications...
On the INE website, in its section Methods and Projects / Quality and Code of Practice / INE quality management / User surveys are available surveys conducted to date.(Click next link)
The specific needs of users have been taken into account in the review carried out on these indices in 2012, in order to adapt the content to the specific requirements of its users, thus increasing their levels of satisfaction.
- 12.3Completeness
Indices are prepared for all materials included in the Royal Decree.
The rate of mandatory statistical results available for the Materials Price Index is R1=100%.
- 12.1User needs
- 13Accuracy and reliability
- 13.1Overall accuracy
As it is an operation that uses the IPRI indices, there are no sampling errors.
As for non-sampling errors, they are controlled in all the processes of the survey from which the data come.
The documentation on the accuracy and reliability of the IPRI can be found in point 13 of the IPRI reference metadata.
- 13.2Sampling error
As it is a statistic that uses the IPRI indices, there are no sampling errors.
The documentation on the accuracy and reliability of the IPRI can be found in point 13 of the IPRI reference metadata.
- 13.3Non-sampling error
As it is a statistic that uses the IPRI indices, it has the same non-sampling errors as this one.
The documentation on the accuracy and reliability of the IPRI can be found in point 13 of the IPRI reference metadata.
- 13.1Overall accuracy
- 14Timeliness and punctuality
- 14.1Timeliness
The publication of the materials price indices and national labour indices is carried out once they are approved by the High Committee on State Contract Prices, attached to the Ministry of Finance and Civil Service, and have followed the legal procedures for their publication in the Official State Gazette.
Therefore, there is no concrete time lapse between the end of the data reference period and the publication of the data.
- 14.2Punctuality
The publication of the materials price indices and national labour indices is carried out once they are approved by the High Committee on State Contract Prices, attached to the Ministry of Finance and Public Administrations, and have followed the legal procedures for their publication in the Official State Gazette.
Therefore, there is no publication calendar for these indices.
- 14.1Timeliness
- 15Coherence and Comparability
- 15.1Comparability - geographical
The data of the price indices are geographically comparable since they use the IPRI indices, and the method of calculation of this statistic in all its phases is the same for the whole national territory.
- 15.2Comparability - over time
The materials price indices have been calculated since January 1964.
As of January 2012, the materials price indices included in Order HAP/1292/2013 are calculated in base Dec-11=100, with new methodology.
In March 2021, the number of elements in the serie base 1964 is CC2=306, and in the serie base Dec-11 is CC2=102.
The indices in base January 1964 are calculated by linking the indices in base December 2011, from August 2013 onwards. This link has been calculated using the indices of July 2013, calculated on both bases.
- 15.3Coherence - cross domain
The materials price index is consistent with the Industrial Price Index, which measures the evolution of the prices of industrial products manufactured and sold in the domestic market, since the elementary data of the latter are used for its calculation.
- 15.4Coherence - internal
The materials price indices are internally consistent. Aggregations are made from the lowest level of information to the highest, both geographically and functionally.
- 15.1Comparability - geographical
- 16Cost and burden
- 16.1Cost and burden
The estimated budget appropriation necessary to finance this statistic foreseen in the 2021 Annual Programme is 5,11 thousands of euros.
In order to significantly reduce the burden on reporting units, since January 2014 all the information used for the calculation of these indices is obtained from the IPRI.
- 16.1Cost and burden
- 17Data revision
- 17.1Data revision - policy
The INE of Spain has a policy which regulates the basic aspects of statistical data revision, seeking to ensure process transparency and product quality. This policy is laid out in the document approved by the INE board of directors on 13 March of 2015, which is available on the INE website, in the section "Methods and projects/Quality and Code of Practice/INE’s Quality management/INE’s Revision policy" (link).
This general policy sets the criteria that the different type of revisions should follow: routine revision- it is the case of statistics whose production process includes regular revisions-; more extensive revision- when methodological or basic reference source changes take place-; and exceptional revision- for instance, when an error appears in a published statistic-.
Materials price index data are final from the first time they are published and are therefore not subject to revision.
- 17.2Data revision - practice
- 17.1Data revision - policy
- 18Statistical processing
- 18.1Source data
The data used for the compilation of the materials price indices are obtained from the IPRI indices.
- 18.2Frequency of data collection
The prices used to calculate the IPRI indices, used in turn in the calculation of these indicators, are collected once a month and refer to the price in effect on the 15th day of the reference month.
- 18.3Data collection
The IPRI price indices, used to calculate these indicators, are obtained quarterly for each of the months included in the quarter.
- 18.4Data validation
Since these price indices are obtained from the IPRI indices, they are validated in the calculation process thereof.
- 18.5Data compilation
The IPRI indices are aggregated, in the case of materials composed of several products, with the specific weightings of each product.
- 18.6Adjustment
No seasonal adjustment is applied.
- 18.1Source data
- 19Comment
- 19.1Comment
- 19.1Comment