U.S. Import Price Index - Data Sources

Data Sources

Price data is received, for the most part, from a fielded survey directed at U.S. importers and exporters. Respondent participation has been conducted on a voluntary basis from its inception. The cooperation of survey respondents in providing data is essential if the Bureau is to succeed in performing its responsibilities as mandated by Congress. The Bureau, accordingly, is deeply committed to preserving the confidentiality of all data submitted. The data collected by the Bureau of Labor Statistics is strictly confidential. The Confidential Information Protection and Statistical Efficiency Act of 2002 (Title 5 of Public Law 107-347) protects the confidentiality of the data provided by the respondents. Price data that is not received directly from survey respondents, referred to as secondary source data, is also used in the calculation of some indexes, including petroleum, ocean tanker freight, and grains indexes.

The import merchandise sampling frames are obtained from the U.S. Customs Service. The export merchandise sampling frames are obtained from the Canadian Customs Service for exports to Canada and from the Bureau of the Census for exports to the rest of the world. Data sources for services are researched and developed separately for each category. For example, the Department of Transportation provides the sampling frames for the air freight price indexes. The reference period for a sampling frame is generally the most recent available 12 months.

Calculation weights are derived from the dollar values found on the sampling frames and from trade dollar values compiled by the Bureau of the Census for the base year.