Information from the Statistics and Census Service (DSEC) indicated that the Composite CPI (102.05) for December 2020 dropped by 0.87% year-on-year. The inflation rate for 2020 was 0.81%, down by 1.94 percentage points from 2.75% in 2019.

The year-on-year decrease in CPI in December 2020 was attributed to lower charges for package tours, telecommunications services and electricity, as well as reduced prices of gasoline, clothing and fresh pork. Among the various sections of goods and services, price indices of Communication, Clothing & Footwear and Recreation & Culture fell by 13.39%, 8.00% and 7.59% year-on-year respectively, whereas the indices of Health and Household Furnishings & Services increased by 2.46% and 2.02%. The CPI-A (102.15) and CPI-B (101.90) saw respective decreases of 0.82% and 0.93% year-on-year.

The Composite CPI for December 2020 grew by 0.21% month-to-month. Price indices of Transport and Clothing & Footwear rose by 1.25% and 0.81% respectively, owing to rising airfares and gasoline prices, as well as new arrival of winter clothing. Price indices of Food & Non-Alcoholic Beverages and Housing & Fuels went up by 0.17% and 0.11% respectively, ascribable to increased charges for eating out and dearer prices of Liquefied Petroleum Gas. On the other hand, lower prices of alcoholic beverages and telecommunications equipment pushed down the price indices of Alcoholic Beverages & Tobacco and Communication by 0.14% and 0.12% respectively. The CPI-A and CPI-B rose by 0.21% and 0.22% month-to-month respectively.

The average Composite CPI for the fourth quarter of 2020 (101.93) decreased by 0.83% year-on-year, with the average CPI-A (102.04) and CPI-B (101.77) dropping by 0.77% and 0.92% respectively. 

For  the  whole year  of  2020,  the average  Composite  CPI  grew  by  0.81% year-on-year to 102.60. The increment was driven by rising charges for eating out and outpatient services, dearer rentals for dwellings, as well as higher prices of fresh pork and gold jewellery. Analysed by section, price indices of Health (+4.02%), Education (+3.54%) and Food & Non-Alcoholic Beverages (+3.37%) increased markedly, while the indices of Communication (-10.61%) and Clothing & Footwear (-6.61%) decreased. The average CPI-A (102.71) and CPI-B (102.45) for 2020 went up by 0.90% and 0.67% year-on-year 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 MOP12,000 to MOP35,999. The CPI-B relates to about 30% of the households, which have an average monthly expenditure of MOP36,000 to MOP62,999.