Information from the Statistics and Census Service (DSEC) indicated that the Composite CPI growth for December 2015 eased to 3.73% year-on-year. The inflation rate for 2015 stood at 4.56%, down from the 6.05% rise in 2014. The Composite CPI (107.31) for December 2015 increased by 3.73% year-on-year, down slightly by 0.04 percentage points from November (+3.77%). Remarkable increase was observed in the price index of Alcoholic Beverages & Tobacco (+37.85%), Education (+8.93%) and Household Goods & Furnishings (+6.31%) on account of an increase in tobacco tax, higher tuition fee and rising wages of domestic helpers. On the other hand, price index of Clothing & Footwear (-2.99%) and Communication (-0.79%) registered decrease. The CPI-A (107.54) and CPI-B (105.41) rose by 3.83% and 2.89% respectively year-on-year. The Composite CPI for December 2015 increased by 0.25% month-to-month. Higher prices of winter clothing & women’s footwear, dearer charges for package tours and cultural services such as movies, as well as rising rentals for parking spaces pushed up the price index of Clothing & Footwear, Recreation & Culture and Transport by 1.53%, 1.49% and 0.82% respectively. Meanwhile, lower prices of fresh pork and fruits tapered off the rise in prices of vegetables and seafood, causing the price index of Food & Non-Alcoholic Beverages to edge up by 0.06%. On the other hand, price index of Alcoholic Beverages & Tobacco, Communication and Housing & Fuels decreased by 1.04%, 0.15% and 0.04% upon reduced prices of alcoholic beverages, tobacco and telecommunications equipment, as well as lower rentals for dwellings. The CPI-A and CPI-B increased by 0.24% and 0.35% respectively month-to-month. The average Composite CPI (107.10) for the fourth quarter of 2015 increased by 3.89% year-on-year; the average CPI-A and CPI-B rose by 4.00% and 2.90% respectively. For the whole year of 2015, the average Composite CPI was 105.72, up by 4.56% year-on-year. Higher rentals for dwellings, dearer charges for eating out and rising rentals for parking spaces together pushed up the annual inflation rate by 3.7 percentage points; meanwhile, receding prices of gasoline and Liquefied Petroleum Gas helped alleviate inflationary pressures. Price index of Alcoholic Beverages & Tobacco (+17.33%) and Housing & Fuels (+8.06%) registered notable increase, while that of Communication and Clothing & Footwear decreased by 0.26% and 0.08% respectively. The average CPI-A (105.92) and CPI-B (104.10) for 2015 increased by 4.88% and 3.67% respectively year-on-year. The Composite CPI reflects the impact of price changes on the general households. The CPI-A relates to about 50% of the households, which have an average monthly expenditure of MOP10,000 to MOP29,999. The CPI-B relates to about 30% of the households, which have an average monthly expenditure of MOP30,000 to MOP54,999.
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