Starting from October 2009, the Statistics and Census Service (DSEC) released the new series of Consumer Price Index (CPI) rebased to April 2008 – March 2009. The 2008/2009 based Composite CPI (101.15) for October 2009 decreased by 1.10% year-on-year, of which the price index of Education fell substantially by 18.95%; besides, falling prices of LPG, lower rentals for housing and reduced charges for mobile phone services drove the price indices of Housing & Fuels; and Communication down by 3.53% and 2.01% respectively. On the contrary, price indices of Clothing & Footwear; Miscellaneous Goods & Services; and Health increased by 5.49%, 3.35% and 2.92% respectively, attributable to higher charges for medical consultation, dearer prices of women’s clothing and gold jewellery. The CPI-A (101.00) and CPI-B (101.12) for October 2009 decreased by 2.13% and 0.92% year-on-year. The Composite CPI for October 2009 increased by 0.28% month-to-month, of which the price indices of Clothing & Footwear; Transport; and Miscellaneous Goods & Services rose by 2.26%, 0.75% and 0.54% respectively on account of dearer prices of new Autumn and Winter clothing, rising prices of private cars and gasoline, as well as higher gold prices. However, price index of Recreation & Culture decreased by 0.32% due to lower charges for outbound package tours. Meanwhile, the CPI-A and CPI-B rose by 0.19% and 0.29% month-to-month. The average Composite CPI for the first ten months of 2009 went up by 1.35% year-on-year. For the 12 months ended October 2009, the average Composite CPI rose by 2.22% over the preceding period. The Composite CPI reflects the impact of price changes on the general population. The new rebased 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
