Information from the Statistics and Census Service (DSEC) indicated that the inflation rate for 2014 stood at 6.05% and the annual average Composite CPI was 101.11. Inflation was mainly fuelled by higher rentals for dwellings and rising charges for eating out, which drove up the inflation rate by 4.2 percentage points.

For the whole year of 2014, notable increase was observed in the price index of Housing & Fuels (+11.93%); and Food & Non-Alcoholic Beverages (+6.11%), while price index of Communication decreased by 0.31%. The average CPI-A (100.99) and CPI-B (100.42) increased by 6.58% and 5.89% year-on-year.

The Composite CPI (103.45) for December 2014 increased by 5.59% year-on-year. Significant increase was observed in the price index of Housing & Fuels (+11.69%); Food & Non-Alcoholic Beverages (+5.83%); and Health (+5.42%) on account of rising rentals for dwellings, as well as dearer charges for eating out and out-patient services. The CPI-A (103.57) and CPI-B (102.45) for December 2014 increased by 6.24% and 5.16% respectively year-on-year.

The Composite CPI for December 2014 increased by 0.29% month-to-month. Higher prices of winter clothing and rising charges for package tours pushed up the price index of Clothing & Footwear; and Recreation & Culture by 2.46% and 1.67% respectively. On the contrary, price index of Transport decreased by 1.35% due to lower prices of gasoline. The CPI-A and CPI-B increased by 0.30% and 0.22% respectively month-to-month.

The average Composite CPI (103.09) for the fourth quarter of 2014 increased by 5.96% year-on-year, with the price index of Housing & Fuels; and Food & Non-Alcoholic Beverages increasing by 11.97% and 6.03% respectively. The average CPI-A and CPI-B rose by 6.54% and 5.67% respectively.

The Composite CPI reflects the impact of price changes on the general households. 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.