The present Volume of Sources and Methods: Labour Statistics presents methodological descriptions of the main characteristics of national series of consumer price indices published by the ILO in the 1992 edition of the Yearbook of Labour Statistics and the Bulletin of Labour Statistics. This third edition of Volume 1 is supplemented with methodological information on national series of consumer price indices in respect of 24 transition countries, as presented in special edition of Sources and Methods: Vol.9: Transition Countries, ILO Geneva, 1999.

The book has two main purposes: first, to provide basic information on the sources and methods used in each of the series of consumer price indices published by the ILO, so as to enhance their usefulness for different purposes; and, second, to indicate the differences between the various national series with regard to their scope, coverage, sources of data, definitions, classifications, treatment of selected special problems and the formula used for computation. The descriptions have been structured and presented with 14 standard headings for the different characteristics in order to make international comparisons easier.