Information from the Statistics and Census Service indicated that the Composite CPI (108.63) for March 2011 increased by 5.46% year-on-year. The increase was attributable to higher charges for meals bought away from home, as well as hairdressing and grooming services, dearer prices of gasoline and gold jewellery, altogether driving up the inflation rate by 2.5 percentage points; however, lower prices of fresh sea products and mobile phone services offset part of the increment.

In comparison with March 2010, notable increase was observed in the price index of Transport (+8.22%); Miscellaneous Goods & Services (+7.84%); Food & Non-Alcoholic Beverages (+6.89%); Recreation & Culture (+6.86%); Clothing & Footwear (+6.85%) and Health (+6.45%) on account of rising prices of gasoline, LP gas, airfare and gold jewellery, higher charges for outbound package tours, meals bought away from home, as well as hairdressing and grooming services. On the contrary, price index of Communication decreased by 8.26% year-on-year. In addition, the CPI-A (108.07) and CPI-B (108.86) increased up by 5.13% and 5.64% respectively.

The Composite CPI for March 2011 rose by 0.47% month-to-month, down by 0.43 percentage point from February, with the price index of Clothing & Footwear; and Recreation & Culture decreasing by 2.06% and 1.54% respectively. However, price index of Food & Non-Alcoholic Beverages; and Transport increased by 1.50% and 1.23%. Moreover, the CPI-A and CPI-B for March 2011 increased by 0.54% and 0.48% month-to-month.

For the 12 months ended March 2011, the average Composite CPI increased by 3.69% from the previous period; the CPI-A and CPI-B rose by 3.27% and 3.87% respectively. In the first quarter of 2011, Composite CPI increased by 5.03% year-on-year; the CPI-A and CPI-B rose by 4.75% and 5.20% respectively.

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.