Instituto Brasileiro de Geografia e Estatística

Starting in September, the IBGE will be collecting data from the Machinery and Equipment Survey of the current round of the International Comparison Program (PCI). The main objective of the survey is to calculate Purchasing Power Parities (PPP). PPPs are a metric used to provide comparable measures, between countries, of prices and volume of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) and are estimated by collecting prices of a common basket of goods and services, in addition to expenditure information from the different GDP expenditure aggregates.

The program's statistics have several applications and are essential for comparing countries' GDP in real terms. Unlike exchange rates, PPPs have the property of eliminating, or at least diminishing, differences in price levels. Through them, it is possible to express the wealth of countries by a same currency and at the same price level. Therefore, the program's results are used for research and analysis by a wide variety of users, such as international organizations, government agencies, universities and researchers from private institutions.

The PCI is a global statistical initiative coordinated by the World Bank and the United Nations Statistics Division. The Machinery and Equipment survey is one of the program's special surveys and, to carry it out, it is necessary to collect prices charged for commercial or industrial purposes from a catalogue of machinery and equipment with strict specifications, in order to ensure comparability of the results obtained among the countries participating in the program.
This collection will be done by contacting companies that manufacture or supply machinery and equipment by telephone and by email. In addition to the technical specifications of the products, the main variables requested are the basic unit price, delivery cost, any installation costs and non-deductible indirect taxes.

Directorate of Surveys
September 16, 2024