Information from the Statistics and Census Service indicated that the Composite CPI (102.14) for January 2010 increased by 0.12% year-on-year. Price indices of Clothing & Footwear; Transport; Miscellaneous Goods & Services; and Food & Non-Alcoholic Beverages rose by 9.95%, 6.99%, 4.51%, and 3.60% respectively, attributable to higher prices of clothing in spite of the seasonal sales, and rising prices of gasoline, gold jewellery, meals bought away from home, fresh fish and vegetables.

On the contrary, apart from the 18.95% decrease of the price index of Education, reduced charges for mobile phone services and lower rentals for housing drove the price indices of Communication; and Housing & Fuels down by 3.28% and 2.75% respectively.

The CPI-A (101.66) for January 2010 decreased by 0.84% year-on-year, while the CPI-B (102.20) increased by 0.35%.

The Composite CPI for January 2010 decreased slightly by 0.03% month-to-month, of which the price indices of Communication and Clothing & Footwear dropped by 3.26% and 2.84% respectively on account of reduced charges for mobile phone services as well as seasonal sales of clothing. However, price indices of Transport and Health increased by 1.25% and 0.69% respectively due to rising prices of gasoline and higher charges for medical consultation. Meanwhile, the CPI-A rose marginally by 0.02% month-to-month, while the CPI-B decreased by 0.06%.

For the 12 months ended January 2010, the average Composite CPI rose by 0.71% over the preceding period.

The Composite CPI reflects the impact of price changes on the general population. The 2008/2009 based CPI-A relates to about 50% of the households, which have an average monthly expenditure of MOP6,000 to MOP18,999. The CPI-B relates to about 30% of the households, which have an average monthly expenditure of MOP19,000 to MOP34,999.