Information from the Statistics and Census Service (DSEC) indicated that the Composite CPI for July 2021 (102.53) rose by 0.38% year-on-year, the first year-on-year growth since August 2020.
The increase in the Composite CPI in July was attributed to dearer charges for eating out and electricity, as well as higher prices of gasoline, Liquefied Petroleum Gas and fruits; however, the rise was partially offset by lower rentals for dwellings, falling prices of pork, clothing and footwear, along with decreasing charges for telecommunication services. Among the various sections of goods and services, price indices of Transport and Household Furnishings & Services grew by 4.24% and 1.84% year-on-year respectively, whereas the indices of Clothing & Footwear and Communication went down by 3.94% and 3.65%. The CPI-A (102.59) and CPI-B (102.45) saw respective growth of 0.32% and 0.46% year-on-year.
The Composite CPI for July rose by 0.03% month-on-month. Higher gasoline prices and airfares together with rising wages of domestic helpers drove up the price indices of Transport and Household Furnishings & Services by 0.73% and 0.49% respectively. On the other hand, price index of Clothing & Footwear dropped by 0.34% ascribable to seasonal sale of women’s clothing. In addition, price index of Housing & Fuels went down by 0.11%. Despite dearer prices of fresh fish, price index of Food & Non-Alcoholic Beverages edged down by 0.06% on account of lower prices of pork. The CPI-A and CPI-B inched up by 0.01% and 0.05% month-on-month respectively.
For the 12 months ended July 2021, the average Composite CPI dropped by 0.57% from the previous period (August 2019 to July 2020), with notable decline in the price indices of Communication (-9.50%) and Recreation & Culture (-9.21%). The average CPI-A and CPI-B decreased by 0.54% and 0.63% respectively over the previous period.
The average Composite CPI for the first seven months of 2021 dropped by 0.57% year-on-year. The average CPI-A and CPI-B fell by 0.59% and 0.54% 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.