Study title

This study deals with the price development of import and export goods as a part of transactions carried out in the context of foreign trade. On the basis of the foreign trade price statistics (as part of the official statistics), the trend of prices shall be constantly monitored. For this special purpose foreign trade price indices are calculated. Foreign trade price indices measures the price trends of all goods traded between the Federal Republic of Germany and abroad. The reference parameter of the overall indices of import or export prices is the sum of import values and export values in the base year, as they are detected by the external trade statistics. In regard to the main calculation processes, the indices can be seen as the weigthed average of individual price change figures, which were calculated for a representative selection of import and export goods (the so called price representatives, or ‘Preisrepräsentanten’). The import and export values of those results of the base year’s event, for which a specific price range is considered to be representative, serves as weighting figures or weighting pattern. The index is calculated by using the so called Laspayres-formula. With the aim to collect import and export prices monthly surveys of import and export enterprises are made. In the framework of these surveys the prices of about 6500 selected products are gathered. Information on the reporting month average prices of all contracts is collected. The reported prices are actual prices charged and not list prices, and they refer to the value ‘free German border / frei deutsche Grenzen” (‘cif’ for import prices, and ‘fob’ for export prices). Public charges (i.e. taxes, customs duties, absorptions, monetary compensatory amounts, import turnover tax ) are not enclosed into this prices . In foreign currency reported prices are converted on the basis of the current exchange rate. About 2980 reporting departments collecting 13000 price series. Foreign trade...