Information from the Statistics and Census Service indicated that the Composite CPI (108.13) for February 2011 rose by 4.70% year-on-year; the increment was attributable to rising indices of Food & Non-Alcoholic Beverages; Housing & Fuels; and Transport. Among the different sections, notable increase was observed in the price index of Clothing & Footwear (+8.02%), Transport (+7.31%), Health (+6.59%), Food & Non-Alcoholic Beverages (+5.98%) and Miscellaneous Goods & Services (+5.61%) on account of dearer prices of women's clothing and footwear, gold jewellery, gasoline, LP-gas and airfare, as well as higher charges for meals bought away from home. On the contrary, the price index of Communication decreased by 8.29% year-on-year. The CPI-A (107.49) and CPI-B (108.34) for February 2011 rose by 4.36% and 4.91% year-on-year respectively. The Composite CPI for February 2011 increased by 0.90% month-to-month, with marked increase in the price index of Recreation & Culture (+4.79%); Transport (+1.58%); and Food & Non-Alcoholic Beverages (+1.52%), which was caused by higher charges for outbound package tours, rising prices of gasoline, airfare, as well as fresh fish and seafood. However, price index of Clothing & Footwear registered a decrease of 1.65%. Meanwhile, the CPI-A and CPI-B increased by 0.94% and 0.91% respectively month-to-month. The average Composite CPI for the first two months of 2011 increased by 4.81% year-on-year. For the 12 months ended February 2011, the average Composite CPI rose by 3.39% from the preceding period. The 2008/2009-based Composite CPI reflects the impact of price changes on the general population. The 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.
