Information from the Statistics and Census Service (DSEC) indicated that the Composite CPI for September 2021 (102.81) rose by 0.83% year-on-year, larger than the increase in August (+0.40%) by 0.43 percentage points.
The increment in the Composite CPI in September was attributed to dearer charges for eating out and electricity, higher prices of gasoline and liquefied petroleum gas, as well as increasing airfares and wages of domestic helpers; however, the rise was partially offset by lower rentals for dwellings and falling prices of pork. Among the various sections of goods and services, price indices of Transport and Household Furnishings & Services surged by 7.51% and 5.12% year-on-year respectively, whereas the indices of Communication and Clothing & Footwear fell by 3.72% and 2.76%. The CPI-A (102.79) and CPI-B (102.84) saw respective growth of 0.67% and 1.04% year-on-year.
The Composite CPI for September rose by 0.20% month-on-month. Price index of Household Furnishings & Services went up by 1.50% as a consequence of the rising wages of domestic helpers. Higher tuition fees in the new academic year together with increasing airfares and gasoline prices drove up the price indices of Education and Transport by 1.16% and 0.63% respectively. Meanwhile, price index of Food & Non-Alcoholic Beverages grew by 0.13% on account of dearer charges for eating out and higher prices of vegetables and fresh & live seafood. On the other hand, price indices of Alcoholic Beverages & Tobacco and Clothing & Footwear decreased by 0.61% and 0.23% respectively. The CPI-A and CPI-B rose by 0.13% and 0.28% month-on-month respectively.
For the 12 months ended September 2021, the average Composite CPI dropped by 0.44% from the previous period (October 2019 to September 2020), with notable decline in the price indices of Communication (-8.27%) and Recreation & Culture (-7.77%). The average CPI-A and CPI-B decreased by 0.45% and 0.42% respectively over the previous period.
The average Composite CPI for the third quarter of 2021 (102.65) increased by 0.54% year-on-year; the average CPI-A (102.68) and CPI-B (102.61) grew by 0.44% and 0.66% respectively. The average Composite CPI for the first nine months of 2021 went down by 0.31% year-on-year. The average CPI-A and CPI-B dropped by 0.35% and 0.26% 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.