Methodology and Quality Update

Methodology and Quality last update 

13/02/2025

Statistical Presentation

Data description  

The averages of prices for goods and services display data on the average price of a good or service and its rate of change in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.
The average of prices for goods and services is a survey conducted to collect data on the basic characteristics as follows:
•    Provide the average price of a good or service (monthly, quarterly, semi-annual, annual) from survey basket of averages prices of goods and services.
•    Provide the rate or percentage of change between a current period and a previous period. (Monthly, quarterly, semi-annual, annual).
•    Contribute to meeting the requirements of the Kingdom’s Vision 2030, in addition to covering local requirements such as the Saudi Contractors Authority, the Ministry of Environment, Water and Agriculture.
Data is also used to estimates:
•    The cost of the monthly basket of goods and services to the consumer.
•    Cost of basic construction materials.
•    Tables of the annual average prices of goods and services, published at the end of each calendar year.

Classification system

The following classifications are applied in average prices of goods and services:
Classification of Individual Consumption by Purpose (CoICOP):
The average prices program uses the classification of individual consumption by purpose (COICOP)with modification of the labels of the sections in proportion to the selected items within the department as follows:

Classification of establishments included in the survey:
•    All points of sale and service delivery at retail price in Saudi Arabia.
•    Goods and services within the basket of average prices.
The classifications are available on the GASTAT’s website: www.stats.gov.sa

Sector coverage

The average prices of goods and services cover the following major economic sectors:
•    Food products, beverages, tobacco, and textiles.
•    Agriculture, and fishing.
•    Ores and minerals.

Statistical concepts and definitions

Terminologies and concepts of Average Prices of Goods and Services:
•    Average prices: 
A statistical measure of changes in the average prices of an item with a fixed and specified specification and period.
•    Percentage of change: 
The rate of change between a current period and a previous period.
•    Goods and Services: 
These are the main goods and services that are most consumed by the household consumer for living purposes.
•    Points of sale: 
The establishments or units from which the price data of goods and services are collected, such as retail stores such as groceries, clothing stores and shops selling construction materials, in addition to shops providing various services to the consumer such as services (doctors, sewing, car maintenance, apartments and hotels, laundry and ironing, hair shaving) and other service shops.
•    Construction goods: 
The main commodities related to housing construction and government contracts are (iron, cable, cement, timber, ready-made concrete).
•    Permanence: 
Ensure that the point of sale continues to be active for a long time.
•    Frequency:
 It is the purchasing activity at the point of sale.

Statistical unit

The statistical unit in the average prices of goods and services is the good and service at the point of sale.

Statistical population

All goods and services included in the list of items of average prices of goods and services in all ten sections.

Reference area

The survey covers 16 cities: (Riyadh, Makkah, Jeddah, Taif, Medina, Buraidah, Dammam, Hofuf, Abha, Tabuk, Hail, Arar, Jizan, Najran, Al Baha, Al Jouf) it is representative of all 13 administrative regions of Saudi Arabia

Time coverage

Data are available from 2009 to the current month.

Base period

Not applicable. 

Unit of measure

•    The average price index of a good or service is measured in rials.
•    The percentage change index for a good or service measured in percentage.

Reference period

•    The collected data is based on the calendar month in which the price data is collected, and the results of the average prices of goods and services are published monthly.
•    Annual aggregate reports are published at the end of the calendar year.

Confidentiality 

Confidentiality - policy

According to the Royal Decree No. 23 dated 07-12-1397, data must always be kept confidential and must be used by GASTAT only for statistical purposes.
Therefore, the data are protected in the data servers of the Authority.

Confidentiality - data treatment

Data are displayed in appropriate tables to facilitate its summarization, comprehension, results extraction, comparison with other data and coming up with statistical connotations for the study community. It is also easier to check tables without the need to see the original questionnaire, which usually include data like names and addresses of individuals, names of data providers, which violates the confidentiality of statistical data.
“Anonymity of data” is one of the most important procedures. To keep data confidential, GASTAT removed personal information of individuals, households, or business entities in a way that does not allow the identification of the respondent either directly (by name, address, contact number, identity number etc.) or indirectly (by combining different - especially rare - characteristics of respondents: age, occupation, education etc.).

Release policy

Release calendar

The average prices of goods and services are included in the statistical calendar.

Release calendar access

Available on the: https://www.stats.gov.sa/statistical-calendar-releases

User access

One of GASTAT’s objectives is to better meet its clients' needs, so it immediately provides them with the publication’s results once the average prices of goods and services publication is published.
 It also receives questions and inquiries of the clients about the Publication and its results through various communication channels, such as:
•    GASTAT official website:  www.stats.gov.sa
•    GASTAT official e-mail address:  info@stats.gov.sa
•    Client support e-mail:  info@stats.gov.sa
•    Official visits to GASTAT’s official head office in Riyadh or one of its branches in Saudi Arabia.
•    Official letters.
•    Statistical telephone: (199009).

Frequency of dissemination

•    Monthly.
•    Tables of the annual average prices of goods and services are published at the end of each calendar year.

Accessibility and clarity

News release

The announcements of each publication are available on release calendar as mentioned in 7.2. Release calendar access. The news release can be viewed on the website of GASTAT through the following link:
https://stats.gov.sa/news

Publications

GASTAT issues publications and reports on the average prices of goods and services on a regular basis within a pre-prepared dissemination plan and are published on GASTAT’s website.  GASTAT is keen to publish its publications in a way that serves all users of different types, including publications in different formats that contain (publication tables, data graphs, indicators, Methodology and Quality Report, and questionnaires) in both English and Arabic.
The results of the average prices of goods and services are available at the link:
https://www.stats.gov.sa/statistics

On-line database

Not available.

Micro-data access 

Microdata are unit-level datasets derived from surveys, censuses, and administrative records. These datasets provide detailed insights into individuals, households, businesses, and geographic areas, supporting the development of statistical indicators and in-depth research.
The different types of microdata files to meet different information needs:
•    Public use:
It consists sets of records containing information on individual persons, households, or business entities anonymized in such a way that the respondent cannot be identified either directly (by name, address, contact number, identity number etc.) or indirectly (by combining different - especially rare - characteristics of respondents: age, occupation, education etc.).
•    Scientific use:
These files established based on specific methodology asked by data requester to extract the datasets with specific characteristics used for strategic studies and decision making as well scientific research purposes on individuals, households and enterprises with no direct identifiers, which have been subject to control methods to protect confidentiality.
Access to Scientific Use Files (SUF) is restricted to authorized researchers who comply with ethical and confidentiality standards. Representative samples of SUF can be obtained through GASTAT's secure platform, "Etaha," while more sensitive datasets are accessible only through secure physical lab environments managed by GASTAT.

Other

Not available.

Documentation on methodology

A framework for average prices of goods and services:
The average prices of goods and services rely in their data on the field survey of average prices of goods and services, which is a field survey conducted by the General Authority for Statistics on a monthly basis and falls under the classification of (economic statistics), in which prices are collected through field visits to pre-determined points of sale in all administrative regions. In the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, an electronic form containing a number of goods and services is completed, through which indicators related to the average prices of goods and services are provided.
Methodology of the average prices of goods and services

Quality documentation

Quality documentation covers documentation on methods and standards for assessing, measuring, and monitoring the quality of statistical process and output. It is based on standard quality criteria such as relevance, accuracy and reliability, timeliness and punctuality, accessibility and clarity, comparability, and coherence.

Quality management

Quality assurance

GASTAT declares that it considers the following principles: impartiality, user orientated, quality of processes and output, effectiveness of statistical processes, reducing the workload for respondents. 
Quality controls and validation of data are actions carried out throughout the process in different stages such as the data input and data collection and other final controls.

Quality assessment

GASTAT performs all statistical activities according to a national model (Generic Statistical Business Process Model – GSBPM). According to the GSBPM, the final phase of statistical activities is overall evaluation using information gathered in each phase or sub-process. This information is used to prepare the evaluation report which outlines all the quality issues related to the specific statistical activity and serves as input for improvement actions.

Relevance 

User needs 

Internal users in the GASTAT for the average prices of goods and services data:
National accounts.
Some several external users and beneficiaries greatly benefit from the average prices of goods and services data, including:
•    Government entities: Ministry of Commerce, Ministry of Investment, Consumer Protection Association, Ministry of Environment, Water and Agriculture, Ministry of Municipal and Rural Affairs and Housing, Saudi Contractors Authority, Ministry of Energy, Ministry of Industry and Mineral Resources.
•    Regional and international organizations: Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), Group of Twenty.
•    Research institutions.
•    International investors.
The disseminated key variables that mostly used by key users: 

User satisfaction

Not available.

Completeness 

Average prices of goods and services data are based on retail points as the main source in order to provide prices of goods and services and data in a complete state.

Accuracy and reliability 

Overall accuracy

•    The data collected is improved through the researchers, that have been selected according to a set of practical and objective criteria and training program related to the field of work.
•    Alert, prevention, and correction rules are applied during the data collection process on the electronic questionnaire for the average prices of goods and services to improve data quality.
•    Data is checked with previous years to identify any significant changes in the data.
•    The internal consistency of the data is checked before it is finalized.
•    The links between variables are checked and coherence between different data series is confirmed.

Timeliness and punctuality 

Timeliness 

GASTAT uses the Special Data Dissemination Standard (SDDS) issued by the International Monetary Fund. According to this Standard, all statistics agencies are required to publish data on a monthly basis, and with a delay of not more than one month (30 days) after the end of the reference period. If the data are from different sources, they may be published in a different frequency.

Punctuality

The publication takes place according to the published release dates on the statistical calendar for average prices of goods and services on the website of the General Authority for Statistics.
Data will be available on time as scheduled in the statistical release calendar.

Coherence and comparability

Comparability - geographical

The data is fully comparable across all regions of the Kingdom, both locally and internationally, for the average price of the commodity or service with the same specification, taking into account currency differences.

Comparability - over time 

The survey began in 2009 as a monthly, continuous, and comparable survey of average price indicators at the monthly, quarterly, or annual level.

Coherence- cross domain 

Not applicable. 

Coherence - sub annual and annual statistics

 The data is consistent with the requirements of national accounts.

Coherence- National Accounts 

Not applicable. 

Coherence - internal 

The average prices of goods and services estimates have full internal coherence, as they are all based on the same corpus of microdata, and they are calculated using the same estimation methods.

Resources used 

Data revision

Data revision – policy

Not applicable, only final results will be published.

Data revision – practice

Not applicable, only final results will be published.

Statistical processing

Source data

The data is collected through field visits to the sample survey of average prices of goods and services consisting of (points of sale) which included the 16 cities mentioned above. In addition to secondary sources such as (pop-up markets, online stores).
The disseminated key variables of survey data are:
•    Average monthly and annual prices of goods and services per item.
•    Monthly and annual changes in average prices for each item.

Frequency of data collection 

Monthly.

Data collection

Data collection from survey:
The average prices of goods and services data is collected through computer-assisted Personal Interviews (CAPI).
The data is stored in the authority's databases after undergoing auditing and review processes following approved statistical methods and recognized quality standards. If errors or discrepancies are discovered, the data is cross-referenced with the data source for correction or clarification.

Data validation

Data are reviewed and matched to ensure their accuracy and precision in a way that suits their nature with the aim of giving the presented statistics quality and accuracy.
The data of the publication's current year are compared with the data of the previous year to ensure their integrity and consistency in preparation for processing data and extracting and reviewing results.
In addition to the data processing and tabulation to check their accuracy, all the outputs are stored and uploaded to the database after being calculated by GASTAT to be reviewed and processed by specialists in the Prices Statistics Department through modern technologies and software designed for this purpose.

Data compilation

Data Coding:
In the Average Prices of Goods and Services, interviewers collect from respondents, a detailed description of each field. This information is then coded in-house by an automated process, which is reviewed by a small-dedicated team of coding experts using a series of consistency checks.
Data Editing:
Specialists of the Prices Statistics Department have processed and analyzed data in this stage, and this step was based on the following measures:
•    Sorting and arranging data in groups or different categories in a serial order.
•    Summarizing detailed data into key points or data.
•    Combining many data segments and ensuring their interconnection.
•    Processing incomplete or missing data.
•    Processing illogical data.
•    Converting data into statistically significant data.
•    Arranging, presenting, and interpreting data
 
 

Adjustment

Not applicable, only final results will be published.