Consumer price index (CPI) for January 2015

Information from the Statistics and Census Service (DSEC) indicated that the Composite CPI for January 2015 increased by 4.75% year-on-year to 103.41, attributable to rising rentals for dwellings, higher prices of clothing and dearer charges for eating out. The smaller year-on-year increase was owing to the higher base of comparison in January 2014 when the Lunar New Year festivities drove up prices of goods and services. In comparison with January 2014, notable increase was observed in the price index of Housing & Fuels (+11.64%), and price index of Food & Non-Alcoholic Beverages and Health rose by 5.41% and 5.26% respectively. On the contrary, price index of Transport and Recreation & Culture decreased by 1.77% and 1.17% respectively. The CPI-A (103.54) and CPI-B (102.37) increased by 5.30% and 4.27% respectively year-on-year. The Composite CPI for January 2015 edged down by 0.03% month-to-month. Price index of Clothing & Footwear; Recreation & Culture and Transport decreased by 2.85%, 2.18% and 1.58% on account of seasonal sale of winter clothing, lower charges for package tours and receding prices of gasoline. On the other hand, higher rentals for dwellings and rising charges for domestic services drove up the price index of Housing & Fuels and Household Goods & Furnishings by 0.84% and 0.80% respectively. Meanwhile, receding prices of vegetables, fresh pork and seafood tapered off the increase in the price index of Food & Non-Alcoholic Beverages. The CPI-A and CPI-B decreased marginally by 0.03% and 0.08% respectively month-to-month. For the 12 months ended January 2015, the average Composite CPI increased by 5.91% from the previous period. Price index of Housing & Fuels (+11.96%) and Food & Non-Alcoholic Beverages (+6.00%) registered remarkable increase, while price index of Communication decreased by 0.15%. The average CPI-A and CPI-B rose by 6.44% and 5.72% respectively. The Composite CPI reflects the impact of price changes on the general households. The CPI-A relates to about 50% of the households, which have an average monthly expenditure of MOP10,000 to MOP29,999. The CPI-B relates to about 30% of the households, which have an average monthly expenditure of MOP30,000 to MOP54,999.