Information from the Statistics and Census Service (DSEC) indicated that the Composite CPI in October 2017 increased by 1.54% year-on-year to 110.03, higher than the 1.39% growth in September 2017. The increment in October was attributable to dearer charges for eating out and outpatient services, rising tuition fees and parking meter rates, as well as higher prices of adults’ footwear.
Among the various sections of goods and services, price indices of Health and Education grew by 5.11% and 4.25% respectively year-on-year, and price index of Food & Non-Alcoholic Beverages that accounted for the largest share of household expenditure went up by 2.33%. Meanwhile, price index of Communication dropped by 5.54%. The CPI-A (110.13) and CPI-B (109.22) rose by 1.56% and 1.36% respectively year-on-year.
The Composite CPI in October 2017 increased by 0.31% month-to-month. New arrival of winter clothing drove up the price index of Clothing & Footwear by 2.97% month-to-month. Price index of Food & Non-Alcoholic Beverages grew by 0.27% owing to higher prices of fresh seafood, rice and fruits. On the other hand, receding charges for communication services pushed down the price index of Communication by 1.36%. In addition, price index of Transport decreased slightly by 0.09% as the rise in parking meter rates and gasoline prices was offset by the decline in airfares. The CPI-A and CPI-B rose by 0.31% and 0.36% respectively month-to-month.
For the 12 months ended October 2017, the average Composite CPI went up by 1.16% from the previous period, with notable increases in the price indices of Education (+6.87%) and Health (+4.40%); meanwhile, price index of Communication dropped by 4.11%. The average CPI-A and CPI-B rose by 1.12% and 1.53% respectively over the previous period.
The average Composite CPI for the first ten months of 2017 rose by 1.10% year-on-year, and the average CPI-A and CPI-B went up by 1.07% and 1.32% 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.