Information from the Statistics and Census Service (DSEC) indicated that the Composite CPI in April 2018 increased by 2.88% year-on-year to 112.03, higher than the 2.66% growth in March 2018. The increment in April was attributable to dearer charges for eating out and out-patient services, higher rentals for dwellings and parking meter rates, as well as rising prices of women’s clothing.
Among the various sections of goods and services, price indices of Clothing & Footwear, Health and Transport went up by 5.69%, 5.17% and 5.06% respectively year-on-year, while the index of Communication dropped markedly by 7.84%. The CPI-A (111.12) and CPI-B (111.27) rose by 2.88% and 2.86% respectively year-on-year.
The Composite CPI in April 2018 increased by 0.32% month-to-month. Higher charges for bus services and electricity, rising prices of gasoline and new arrival of women’s summer clothing pushed up the price indices of Transport, Clothing & Footwear and Housing & Fuels by 1.29%, 1.04% and 0.24% respectively. On the other hand, price index of Food & Non-Alcoholic Beverages edged down by 0.06% as the decline in prices of vegetables and fresh pork offset the increase in fruit prices and eating out charges. The CPI-A and CPI-B rose by 0.32% and 0.27% respectively month-to-month.
For the 12 months ended April 2018, the average Composite CPI grew by 1.79% from the previous period, with notable increases in the price indices of Education (+5.26%) and Health (+4.90%). The average CPI-A and CPI-B rose by 1.79% and 1.82% respectively over the previous period.
The average Composite CPI for the first four months of 2018 increased by 2.60% year-on-year. The average CPI-A and CPI-B went up by 2.58% and 2.78% 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.