Commercial Software Price Index, March 2017

The Commercial Software Price Index (CSPI) is a monthly series that measures the change in the purchase price of software typically bought by businesses and governments. With each release, data for the previous six months may have been revised. The index is not seasonally adjusted.

This index is available at the Canada level only.

Price data for the CSPI are obtained from a third party data provider. In the past, the data were classified in eight categories and weighted accordingly. The data provider's collection methodology has recently changed and weighting is not possible at this time until the software prices can be categorized. Once the software reclassification is complete, weights will be re-applied and historical data may be revised. There should be minimal impact on the overall CSPI as a historical comparison of the weighted and unweighted indexes yielded comparable results.

Infographic: Producer Price Indexes at a Glance

The infographic, "Producer Price Indexes at a Glance," which is part of Statistics Canada — Infographics (Catalogue number11-627-M), is available. This infographic demonstrates how producer price indexes for goods and services are calculated and why they are important for the Canadian economy.