Information from the Statistics and Census Service (DSEC) indicated that the Composite CPI (102.30) for January 2021 dropped by 1.18% year-on-year, which was attributed to lower charges for package tours and telecommunications services, as well as reduced prices of gasoline, fresh pork, clothing and footwear. The CPI for January 2021 showed a larger year-on-year decrease as Lunar New Year fell in January last year which led to a rise in the prices of certain goods and services.

Among the various sections of goods and services, price indices of Recreation & Culture, Communication and Clothing & Footwear fell by 14.16%, 7.79% and 6.22% year-on-year respectively, whereas the indices of Health and Household Furnishings & Services rose by 2.32% and 1.81%. The CPI-A (102.39) and CPI-B (102.18) saw respective decreases of 1.11% and 1.28% year-on-year.

The Composite CPI for January 2021 increased by 0.25% month-to-month. Higher airfares and gasoline prices pushed up the price index of Transport by 3.94%. Price index of Food & Non-Alcoholic Beverages went up by 0.10% on account of dearer prices of vegetables. On the other hand, price indices of Clothing & Footwear and Recreation & Culture decreased by 1.07% and 0.94% respectively. The CPI-A and CPI-B grew by 0.23% and 0.27% month-to-month respectively.

For the 12 months ended January 2021, the average Composite CPI increased by 0.46% from the previous period (February 2019 to January 2020). Price indices of Health (+3.84%), Education (+3.14%) and Food & Non-Alcoholic Beverages (+2.91%) registered notable growth. The average CPI-A and CPI-B went up by 0.56% and 0.32% respectively over the previous period.

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 MOP12,000 to MOP35,999. The CPI-B relates to about 30% of the households, which have an average monthly expenditure of MOP36,000 to MOP62,999.