Definition: Scope

Category: Consumer Price Index

The set of products for which the index is intended to measure the price changes. The scope of a CPI (Consumer price index) will generally be defined in terms of a designated set of consumption goods and services purchased by a designated set of households. In practice, certain goods and services or households may have to be excluded because it is too difficult, time-consuming or costly to collect the relevant data on expenditures or prices: for example, illegal expenditures. The coverage of an index denotes the actual set of products included, as distinct from the intended scope of the index. http://www.ilo.org/public/english/bureau/stat/guides/cpi/index.htm