Information from the Statistics and Census Service (DSEC) indicated that the Composite CPI (116.41) for August 2019 increased by 2.83% year-on-year, up by 0.23 percentage points from the 2.60% growth in July 2019. The increment in August was attributable to higher charges for eating out, rising rentals for dwellings and dearer prices of fresh pork, motor cars, gasoline and gold jewellery. The soaring prices of fresh pork in particular contributed 0.32 percentage points to the growth.
Among the various sections of goods and services, price indices of Education and Transport grew notably by 5.83% and 5.06% respectively year-on-year, whereas the indices of Communication and Alcoholic Beverages & Tobacco dropped by 2.53% and 0.91%. The CPI-A (116.42) and CPI-B (116.28) saw respective increases of 2.70% and 3.92% year-on-year.
The Composite CPI for August 2019 rose by 0.30% month-to-month. Higher charges for outpatient services and package tours, as well as increasing prices of gold jewellery, pushed up the price indices of Health, Recreation & Culture and Miscellaneous Goods & Services by 1.95%, 1.86% and 0.87% respectively. Price index of Food & Non-Alcoholic Beverages went up by 0.33% owing to dearer prices of fresh pork and rising charges for eating out; yet, lower prices of vegetables and fruits tapered off part of the increase. On the other hand, summer sale of women’s clothing drove down the price index of Clothing & Footwear markedly by 0.85%. The CPI-A and CPI-B grew by 0.30% and 0.37% respectively month-to-month.
For the 12 months ended August 2019, the average Composite CPI increased by 2.92% from the previous period, with notable growth in the price indices of Education (+5.89%) and Transport (+5.21%). The average CPI-A and CPI-B grew by 2.89% and 3.17% respectively over the previous period.
The average Composite CPI for the first eight months of 2019 went up by 2.77% year-on-year. The average CPI-A and CPI-B rose by 2.71% and 3.29% 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.