Information from the Statistics and Census Service (DSEC) indicated that the Composite CPI in February 2017 increased by 0.37% year-on-year to 108.79, driven by dearer charges for eating out, higher rentals for parking spaces, rising prices of gasoline and motor cars, as well as increases in tuition fees and out-patient service charges. The year-on-year growth in February 2017 eased significantly from January 2017 (+1.76%) since the Lunar New Year took place in February last year. This high base of comparison led to notable year-on-year decreases in package tour charges and vegetable prices, which are easily affected by seasonal factors; moreover, lower rentals for dwellings also contributed to the slowdown in growth.
Among the various sections of goods and services, price indices of Education, Alcoholic Beverages & Tobacco and Transport increased by 7.36%, 7.17% and 6.97% respectively year-on-year; price index of Food & Non-Alcoholic Beverages that accounted for the largest share of household expenditure went up by 0.14%. On the other hand, price indices of Recreation & Culture (-8.26%) and Housing & Fuels (-1.86%) registered notable decrease. The CPI-A (108.90) and CPI-B (107.84) rose by 0.25% and 1.39% respectively year-on-year.
The Composite CPI in February 2017 decreased by 0.42% month-to-month. Reduced charges for package tours after the Lunar New Year and seasonal sales of winter clothing & footwear pushed down the price indices of Recreation & Culture and Clothing & Footwear by 8.74% and 1.84% respectively. Meanwhile, price indices of Alcoholic Beverages & Tobacco and Household Goods & Furnishings went up by 0.99% and 0.76% respectively owing to higher prices of alcoholic beverages and rising wages of domestic helpers. Moreover, price index of Food & Non-Alcoholic Beverages rose by 0.30% on account of dearer charges for eating out and higher fruit prices. The CPI-A and CPI-B dropped by 0.43% and 0.37% respectively month-to-month.
For the 12 months ended February 2017, the average Composite CPI rose by 1.91% from the previous period, with marked increase in the price indices of Alcoholic Beverages & Tobacco (+16.66%), Education (+8.13%) and Transport (+7.21%). The average CPI-A and CPI-B rose by 1.80% and 2.82% respectively over the previous period.
The average Composite CPI for the first two months of 2017 increased by 1.06% year-on-year. The average CPI-A and CPI-B went up by 0.94% and 2.08% 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 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.