Information from the Statistics and Census Service (DSEC) indicated that the Composite CPI in December 2017 rose by 2.04% year-on-year to 111.08, the highest increase in 2017 and the largest growth since July 2016. The inflation rate for 2017 was 1.23%, down further from 2.37% in 2016.
The year-on-year growth for December 2017 was attributable to dearer charges for eating out and outpatient services, rising prices of adults’ footwear, as well as higher parking meter rates and tuition fees. Among the various sections of goods and services, price indices of Health, Education and Household Goods & Furnishings grew by 4.38%, 4.25% and 3.77% respectively year-on-year. Meanwhile, price index of Communication dropped by 5.40%. The CPI-A (111.18) and CPI-B (110.29) rose by 2.03% and 2.16% respectively year-on-year.
The Composite CPI in December 2017 increased by 0.51% month-to-month. New arrival of winter clothing drove up the price index of Clothing & Footwear by 3.25%. Price indices of Recreation & Culture and Household Goods & Furnishings went up by 1.82% and 1.22% respectively on account of dearer charges for package tours and higher wages for domestic helpers. On the other hand, receding prices of alcoholic beverages brought down the price index of Alcoholic Beverages & Tobacco by 0.94%. The CPI-A and CPI-B rose by 0.53% and 0.41% respectively month-to-month.
The average Composite CPI for the fourth quarter of 2017 (110.54) increased by 1.76% year-on-year; the average CPI-A (110.63) and CPI-B (109.79) both rose by 1.76% year-on-year.
For the whole year of 2017, the average Composite CPI increased by 1.23% year-on-year to 109.56. Higher charges for eating out and outpatient services, rising tuition fees and dearer prices of adults’ footwear pushed up the annual inflation rate by 0.92 percentage points. Analysed by section, price indices of Education (+6.32%), Health (+4.42%) and Transport (+3.75%) registered notable increases, while those of Communication and Housing & Fuel decreased by 4.68% and 0.79% respectively. The average CPI-A (109.66) and CPI-B (108.73) for 2017 went up by 1.20% and 1.43% respectively year-on-year.
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.