Information from the Statistics and Census Service indicated that the Composite CPI (101.65) for November 2009 decreased by 0.11% year-on-year. Apart from the 18.95% decrease of the price index of Education, lower rentals for housing and reduced charges for mobile phone services drove the price indices of Housing & Fuels; and Communication down by 2.31% and 2.0% respectively. On the contrary, price indices of Clothing & Footwear; Miscellaneous Goods & Services; and Food & Non-Alcoholic Beverages increased by 8.81%, 4.08% and 3.15% respectively, attributable to dearer prices of new Autumn/Winter clothing for men and women, gold jewellery, as well as fresh fish and seafood. The CPI-A (101.35) for November 2009 decreased by 1.08% year-on-year, while CPI-B (101.67) increased slightly by 0.08%. The Composite CPI for November 2009 increased by 0.49% month-to-month, of which the price indices of Clothing & Footwear; Miscellaneous Goods & Services; and Housing & Fuels rose by 5.54%, 0.75% and 0.22% respectively on account of dearer prices of new Autumn/Winter clothing, higher gold prices and rising prices of LP Gas. However, price index of Food & Non-Alcoholic Beverages decreased by 0.04% due to lower prices of fresh fish from October. Meanwhile, the CPI-A and CPI-B rose by 0.35% and 0.54% month-to-month. The average Composite CPI for the first eleven months of 2009 went up by 1.21% year-on-year. For the 12 months ended November 2009, the average Composite CPI rose by 1.61% over the preceding period. The Composite CPI reflects the impact of price changes on the general population. The 2008/2009 based CPI-A relates to about 50% of the households, which have an average monthly expenditure of MOP6,000 to MOP18,999. The CPI-B relates to about 30% of the households, which have an average monthly expenditure of MOP19,000 to MOP34,999.
