Information from the Statistics and Census Service indicated that the average Composite CPI for the whole year of 2010 was 104.25 and the inflation rate for 2010 stood at 2.81%. The annual inflation rate was driven up by dearer prices of meals bought away from home, men’s and women’s clothing, fresh fish and seafood, gasoline, gold jewellery, vegetables and LP-gas, altogether contributed 1.9 percentage points to the increase in the annual inflation rate.

In 2010, notable increase was observed in the price index of various sections of goods and services, namely Clothing & Footwear (+6.51%); Transport (+6.30%); Miscellaneous Goods & Services (+6.13%); Food & Non-Alcoholic Beverages (+4.73%); Alcoholic Beverages & Tobacco (+4.72%); and Health (+4.39%); however, price indices of Education and Communication decreased by 7.27% and 3.49% compared with 2009.

The average CPI-A and CPI-B for 2010 was 103.77 and 104.38 respectively, up by 2.28% and 2.97% in comparison with 2009.

The Composite CPI (106.17) for December 2010 rose by 3.92% year-on-year. Price indices of Transport (+6.94%); Miscellaneous Goods & Services (+6.65%); Health (+6.13%); Food & Non-Alcoholic Beverages (+4.78%); and Clothing & Footwear (+4.11%) recorded significant increase, which was caused by dearer prices of gasoline, airfare, gold jewellery, LP-gas, women’s clothing and footwear, as well as rising charges for meals bought away from home, out-patience medical services and hairdressing and grooming services. On the contrary, reduced charges for mobile phone services lowered the price index of Communication to decrease by 3.60% year-on-year.

The CPI-A (105.32) and CPI-B (106.42) for December 2010 increased by 3.62% and 4.07% year-on-year respectively.

The Composite CPI for December 2010 increased by 0.59% month-to-month, with marked increase in the price indices of Clothing & Footwear (+2.99%); Household Goods & Furnishings (+1.50%); Recreation & Culture (+1.28%); and Transport (+1.08%); moreover, the CPI-A and CPI-B increased by 0.38% and 0.66% month-to-month.

The Composite CPI for the fourth quarter of 2010 rose by 3.93% over the same quarter of 2009, with noticeable increase in the price indices of Miscellaneous Goods & Services (+6.71%); Clothing & Footwear (+6.06%); Transport (+5.81%); Health (+5.79%); and Food & Non-Alcoholic Beverages (+5.04%). In the fourth quarter of 2010, the CPI-A and CPI-B rose by 3.65% and 4.07% from a year earlier.

The 2008/2009-based Composite CPI reflects the impact of price changes on the general population. The 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.