Information from the Statistics and Census Service (DSEC) indicated that the Composite CPI in November 2017 increased by 1.69% year-on-year to 110.51, higher than the 1.54% growth in October 2017. The increment in November was attributable to rising charges for eating out and outpatient services, higher parking meter rates and tuition fees, as well as dearer prices of adults’ footwear and gasoline.

Among the various sections of goods and services, price indices of Education, Health and Transport grew by 4.25%, 3.82% and 3.77% respectively year-on-year. Meanwhile, price index of Communication dropped by 5.39%. The CPI-A (110.59) and CPI-B (109.85) rose by 1.68% and 1.76% respectively year-on-year.

The Composite CPI in November 2017 increased by 0.44% month-to-month. New arrival of women’s winter clothing & footwear, rising motor car prices and higher parking meter rates pushed up the price indices of Clothing & Footwear and Transport by 2.04% and 1.17% respectively month-to-month. In addition, price index of Housing & Fuel grew by 0.59% owing to higher prices of Liquefied Petroleum Gas and dearer rentals for dwellings. On the other hand, receding charges for package tours caused the price index of Recreation & Culture to fall by 0.29%. The CPI-A and CPI-B rose by 0.42% and 0.58% respectively month-to-month.

For the 12 months ended November 2017, the average Composite CPI went up by 1.18% from the previous period, with notable increases in the price indices of Education (+6.59%) and Health (+4.38%); meanwhile, price index of Communication dropped by 4.39%. The average CPI-A and CPI-B rose by 1.14% and 1.45% respectively over the previous period.

The average Composite CPI for the first eleven months of 2017 rose by 1.15% year-on-year, and the average CPI-A and CPI-B went up by 1.13% and 1.36% respectively.

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 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.