Information from the Statistics and Census Service (DSEC) indicated that the Composite CPI in August 2018 increased by 3.32% year-on-year to 113.20, a small slowdown from the 3.33% growth in July. The increment in August was attributable to higher rentals for dwellings, dearer charges for eating out, rising parking meter rates and increasing prices of gasoline and adults’ clothing.

Among the various sections of goods and services, price indices of Clothing & Footwear, Transport and Health went up by 6.35%, 6.25% and 4.76% respectively year-on-year, while the index of Communication decreased markedly by 7.94%. The CPI-A (113.36) and CPI-B (111.89) rose by 3.37% and 2.90% respectively year-on-year.

The Composite CPI in August 2018 edged up by 0.08% month-to-month. Price indices of Recreation & Culture, Housing & Fuels and Transport rose by 0.67%, 0.59% and 0.34% respectively, on account of higher charges for package tours, dearer rentals for dwellings and increasing prices of Liquefied Petroleum Gas and gasoline, as well as rising airfares. On the other hand, seasonal sales of summer clothing & footwear and receding prices of gold jewellery drove down the price indices of Clothing & Footwear and Miscellaneous Goods & Services by 2.01% and 0.17% respectively. The CPI-A grew by 0.10% month-to-month while the CPI-B dropped by 0.09%.

For the 12 months ended August 2018, the average Composite CPI rose by 2.48% from the previous period, with notable growth in the price indices of Clothing & Footwear (+5.15%), Health (+4.79%), Transport (+4.50%) and Education (+4.20%). The average CPI-A and CPI-B increased by 2.49% and 2.46% respectively over the previous period.

The average Composite CPI for the first eight months of 2018 increased by 2.89% year-on-year; the average CPI-A and CPI-B went up by 2.89% and 2.87% 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.