Information from the Statistics and Census Service (DSEC) indicated that the Composite CPI for June 2021 (102.50) went down by 0.08% year-on-year, smaller than the decrease in May (-0.51%) by 0.43 percentage points.
The drop in the Composite CPI in June was attributed to receding charges for package tours and telecommunication services, lower rentals for dwellings as well as falling prices of women’s clothing and pork; however, the decrease was partially offset by dearer charges for eating out, rising prices of gasoline and fruits, higher airfares, along with increasing wages of domestic helpers. Among the various sections of goods and services, price indices of Recreation & Culture and Communication fell by 9.63% and 7.57% year-on-year respectively, whereas the indices of Transport and Household Furnishings & Services grew by 4.24% and 2.41%. The CPI-A (102.58) and CPI-B (102.40) saw respective decreases of 0.12% and 0.04% year-on-year.
The Composite CPI for June edged down by 0.01% month-on-month. Summer sales of adults’ clothing, coupled with lower hotel room rates and rentals for dwellings, pushed down the prices indices of Recreation & Culture, Clothing & Footwear and Housing & Fuels by 0.29%, 0.18% and 0.13% respectively. Meanwhile, price index of Transport increased by 0.33% attributable to a continued rise in gasoline prices. Despite retreating prices of pork and vegetables, price index of Food & Non-Alcoholic Beverages rose by 0.13% on account of higher charges for eating out as well as dearer prices of fruits, fresh fish and seafood. The CPI-A and CPI-B both dropped by 0.01% month-on-month.
For the 12 months ended June 2021, the average Composite CPI decreased by 0.58% from the previous period (July 2019 to June 2020), with notable drop in the price indices of Communication (-10.11%) and Recreation & Culture (-9.94%). The average CPI-A and CPI-B slipped by 0.54% and 0.67% respectively over the previous period.
The average Composite CPI for the second quarter of 2021 (102.50) went down by 0.41% year-on-year. The average CPI-A (102.58) and CPI-B (102.38) dipped by 0.45% and 0.37% respectively. The average Composite CPI for the first half year of 2021 declined by 0.72% year-on-year. The average CPI-A and CPI-B decreased by 0.74% and 0.71% respectively.
The Composite CPI reflects the impact of price changes on the general households in Macao. The CPI-A relates to about 50% of the households, which have an average monthly expenditure of MOP12,000 to MOP35,999. The CPI-B relates to about 30% of the households, which have an average monthly expenditure of MOP36,000 to MOP62,999.