Information from the Statistics and Census Service (DSEC) indicated that the inflation rate for 2024 was 0.74%, down by 0.2 percentage points from 0.94% in 2023. The Composite CPI for December grew by 0.23% year-on-year and 0.2% month-on-month. The average CPI-A and CPI-B rose by 0.7% and 0.79% year-on-year respectively in 2024.

The CPI covers a diverse range of consumer goods and services. As the relevant importance (weight) of these goods and services in household expenditure varies, the changes in their prices have different impact on the livelihood of households, and the overall index is affected by both the changes in prices and weights of these goods and services. In other words, the inflation rate (i.e. the rate of change of the overall index) is also influenced by the weights of different goods and services.

With respect to the sections of goods and services that are closely linked to livelihoods, the price index of Food & Non-Alcoholic Beverages (weight: 29.47) increased by 1.1% year-on-year in 2024, with growth recorded in the price indices of non-alcoholic beverages (+2.67%), eating out & takeaway (+2.31%), bread & biscuits (+1.64%), pastries (+1.4%), fruit (+1.33%) and vegetables (+0.86%). However, these price increases had limited impact on the price index of Food & Non-Alcoholic Beverages because, except for eating out & takeaway (weight: 18.21), the weights of non-alcoholic beverages (0.55), bread & biscuits (0.86), pastries (0.35), fruit (1.25) and vegetables (1.17) were relatively low. The price indices of fresh, chilled or frozen pork (weight: 1.52) and edible oils & fats (weight: 0.2), on the other hand, showed respective decreases of 13.54% and 3.45%, which offset part of the increase. Meanwhile, the price index of Housing & Fuels (weight: 34.47) went up by 0.45% year-on-year, with that of liquefied petroleum gas (weight: 0.72) rising by 6.49%.

In contrast, the price index of Transport (weight: 8.33) decreased by 3.26%, owing to a drop of 23.55% in the price index of passenger transport by air (weight: 0.56). In addition, the price index of Household Furnishings & Services (weight: 3.43) went down by 0.29%, with that of non-durable households goods (weight: 0.39) falling by 0.98%. The fall in the abovementioned price indices tapered off the growth in the average Composite CPI.

In comparison with December 2023, the Composite CPI rose by 0.23% in December 2024. Among the various sections of goods and services, the price indices of Miscellaneous Goods & Services (+2.69%), Health (+1.07%) and Education (+0.73%) saw relatively large growth, whereas the price indices of Transport (-3.34%) and Household Furnishings & Services (-0.61%) declined. The CPI-A and CPI-B went up by 0.17% and 0.24% year-on-year respectively.

When compared to November 2024, the Composite CPI increased by 0.2% in December. The price indices of Transport (+1.54%), Recreation, Sport & Culture (+1.39%) and Clothing & Footwear (+0.36%) recorded month-on-month growth. By contrast, the price index of Food & Non-Alcoholic Beverages (-0.05%) decreased due to lower prices of fresh fish, seafood, vegetables and pork. The CPI-A and CPI-B climbed by 0.14% and 0.24% month-on-month respectively.

For the fourth quarter of 2024, the average Composite CPI increased by 0.28% year-on-year. The average CPI-A and CPI-B showed respective growth of 0.26% and 0.29%.   

DSEC compiles three separate CPI series to reflect the impact of price changes for goods/services on households of different expenditure ranges. The CPI-A and CPI-B cover about 50% and 30% of the households, which have an average monthly expenditure of MOP11,000 - MOP35,999 and MOP36,000 - MOP71,999 respectively. Meanwhile, the Composite CPI covers all the abovementioned households; Housing & Fuels, Food & Non-Alcoholic Beverages and Transport accounted for relatively large proportions of household expenditure, with respective weights of 34.47, 29.47 and 8.33.