Information from the Statistics and Census Service (DSEC) indicated that the Composite CPI increased by 1.53% year-on-year to 108.67 in November 2016, an increase from the 1.33% growth in October. The increment was attributable to higher charges for eating out, dearer rentals for parking spaces, increases in property management fees and tuition fees, as well as rising prices of motor cars and vegetables. Among the various sections of goods and services, price index of Food & Non-Alcoholic Beverages that accounted for the largest share of household expenditure rose by 2.09% year-on-year. Price index of Alcoholic Beverages & Tobacco (+7.47%), Education (+7.38%) and Transport (+6.70%) also increased. On the other hand, price index of Communication, Housing & Fuels and Recreation & Culture decreased by 2.02%, 1.36% and 0.31% respectively. The CPI-A (108.76) and CPI-B (107.95) went up by 1.38% and 2.76% respectively year-on-year. The Composite CPI for November 2016 increased by 0.29% month-to-month. Price index of Clothing & Footwear and Health rose by 3.68% and 1.24% respectively on account of new arrival of winter clothing & footwear and higher charges for out-patient services. Moreover, price index of Food & Non-Alcoholic Beverages went up by 0.40% owing to higher prices of vegetables & fruits and dearer charges for eating out; meanwhile, receding price of fresh pork tapered off part of the increase. By contrast, lower charges for package tours pushed down the price index of Recreation & Culture by 0.97%. In addition, declining rentals for dwellings offset the rise in water charges and Liquefied Petroleum Gas price, bringing the price index of Housing & Fuels slightly down by 0.09%. The CPI-A and CPI-B rose by 0.30% and 0.18% respectively month-to-month. For the 12 months ended November 2016, the average Composite CPI grew by 2.56% from the previous period. Price index of Alcoholic Beverages & Tobacco (+24.25%), Education (+8.53%) and Transport (+6.81%) showed marked increase. The average CPI-A and CPI-B rose by 2.51% and 3.02% respectively over the previous period. The average Composite CPI for the first eleven months of 2016 increased by 2.46% year-on-year; the average CPI-A and CPI-B went up by 2.39% and 3.03% respectively. The Composite CPI reflects the impact of price changes on the general households in Macao. 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.
