An index number is basically a number which measures relative changes of anything that can be stated numerically (eg. price, or quantity).
The method
One specified point of time or quantative
level will be taken as a
base (usually given the value of 100) and each subsequent measurement will be expressed as a number above or below that
figure, to be determined by the
percentage change during the interval; eg. the statement that the price of
tobacco is 149 (base year 1975) means simply that since the base year tobacco has risen in price by 49%.
Applications and uses
In commercial practice and
economics the most common
index is the
retail price index (
RPI), which is intended to show movements in the general
cost of living. This particular index, however, is also a
weighted index, i.e. attention is paid to the fact that the effect of a rise in the
price of one item may be greater, or less, than a rise in the price of another. The reason for this is that the two items represent quite different proportions of total living expenses; e.g. in an
economy where
rice is the
staple diet a rise in the price of rice will have a far greater effect on the cost of living than an equally steep rise in the price of
butter, for example.
Other well known indices are the Dow Jones Industrial Average index, the whosale price index, the index of wages and salaries and various volume indices connected with imports and exports.