Wholesale Price Index

The Wholesale Price Index (WPI) was first published in 1902, and was one of the more economic indicators available to policy makers until it was replaced by the producer price index (PPI) in 1978.Wholesale price index: This is the index that is used to measure the change in the average price level of goods traded in wholesale market. A total of 435 commodities data on price level is tracked. The Wholesale Price Index (WPI) is the most widely used price index in India. It is the only general index capturing price movements in a comprehensive way. It is an indicator of movement in prices of commodities in all trade and transactions. It is also the price index which is available on a weekly basis with the shortest possible time lag only two weeks. It is due to these attributes that it is widely used in business and industry circles and in Government, and is generally taken as an indicator of the rate of inflation in the economy. It is imperative that the index is put on as sound a footing as possible.
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Noun
1. an index of changes in wholesale prices
(synonym) producer price index
(hypernym) price index, price level

The Wholesale Price Index (WPI) was the original name of the Producer Price Index (PPI) program from its inception in 1902 until 1978, when it was renamed (PPI). At the same time, emphasis was shifted from one index encompassing the whole economy, to three main indexes covering the stages of production in the economy. By changing emphasis, BLS eliminated the double counting phenomenon inherent in aggregate commodity-based indexes.

A composite index of prices of commodities sold in primary U.S. markets. "Wholesale" refers to sale in large quantities by producers, not to prices received by wholesalers, jobbers, or distributors. In agriculture, it is the average price received by farmers for their farm commodities at the first point of sale when the commodity leaves the farm.