Information from the Statistics and Census Service (DSEC) indicated that the average Composite CPI for the whole year of 2011 was 110.30 and the inflation rate for 2011 stood at 5.81%. The rising inflation rate was attributable to higher charges for meals bought away from home, dearer prices of clothing and gasoline, driving up the annual inflation rate by 2.5 percentage points. However, subsidy on electricity charges and lowered telecommunication charges tapered off part of the increment of the Composite CPI. In 2011, notable increase was observed in the price index of the following sections of goods and services, namely Miscellaneous Goods & Services (+9.06%); Transport (+8.75%); Food & Non-Alcoholic Beverages (+8.14%); and Clothing & Footwear (+6.73%); however, price index of Communication decreased by 10.67%. In addition, the average CPI-A (109.49) and CPI-B (110.63) for 2011 increased by 5.51% and 5.99% from a year earlier. The Composite CPI (113.40) for December 2011 increased by 6.81% year-on-year. Price index of Alcoholic Beverages & Tobacco (+11.08%); Food & Non-Alcoholic Beverages (+11.02%); and Miscellaneous Goods & Services (+9.00%) registered marked increase on account of dearer prices of fresh meat, vegetable, fresh fish, women's clothing, gasoline and gold jewellery, as well as soaring tobacco tax and charges for meals bought away from home. On the contrary, price index of Communication decreased by 13.96% year-on-year. The CPI-A (112.48) and CPI-B (113.77) for December 2011 increased by 6.80% and 6.90% respectively year-on-year. The Composite CPI for December 2011 increased by 0.74% month-to-month, of which the price index of Alcoholic Beverages & Tobacco; Clothing & Footwear; and Recreation & Culture increased by 10.48%, 3.02% and 1.34% respectively, while the price index of Transport decreased by 0.03% with lower gasoline prices. Meanwhile, the CPI-A and CPI-B increased by 0.69% and 0.74% respectively month-to-month. The Composite CPI for the fourth quarter of 2011 rose by 6.72% compared with the same quarter of 2010, with noticeable increase in the price index of Food & Non-Alcoholic Beverages (+10.40%); Miscellaneous Goods & Services (+9.53%); and Transport (+7.57%). In the fourth quarter of 2011, the CPI-A and CPI-B rose by 6.57% and 6.88% from a year earlier. 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.
