Information from the Statistics and Census Service (DSEC) indicated that the Composite CPI for December 2022 (103.86) grew by 0.77% year-on-year. The inflation rate for 2022 was 1.04%, up by 1.01 percentage points from 0.03% in 2021.

The year-on-year growth in the Composite CPI for December was mainly attributed to rising wages of domestic helpers, increased tuition fees, higher charges for eating out and electricity, as well as dearer prices of gasoline; yet, the rise was partially offset by lower rentals for dwellings, reduced charges for telecommunications services and falling prices of liquefied petroleum gas. Among the various sections of goods and services, price indices of Education and Household Furnishings & Services rose by 10.07% and 8.93% year-on-year respectively, whereas the index of Communication dropped by 9.22%. The CPI-A (103.44) and CPI-B (104.41) saw respective growth of 0.46% and 1.17% year-on-year.

In comparison with November 2022, the Composite CPI edged up by 0.01% in December. Higher prices of winter clothing and women’s footwear drove up the price index of Clothing & Footwear by 0.56%. Price index of Food & Non-Alcoholic Beverages grew by 0.24% due to rising prices of vegetables and fruits, together with higher charges for eating out. On the other hand, price index of Housing & Fuels dropped by 0.22% on account of lower rentals for dwellings and reduced liquefied petroleum gas prices. The CPI-A remained stable month-on-month, while the CPI-B rose by 0.02%.

The average Composite CPI in the fourth quarter of 2022 (103.86) went up by 0.85% year-on-year, while the average CPI-A (103.45) and CPI-B (104.40) increased by 0.51% and 1.29% respectively.

For the whole year of 2022, the average Composite CPI (103.70) grew by 1.04% year-on-year. The increment was driven by higher wages of domestic helpers, dearer charges for eating out and electricity, along with rising prices of gasoline and fruits; however, the growth was partially moderated by lower rentals for dwellings, falling charges for telecommunications services and receding prices of pork. Analysed by section, price indices of Household Furnishings & Services (+11.23%) and Transport (+5.84%) showed notable rise, while the index of Communication fell by 9.39%. The average CPI-A (103.41) and CPI-B (104.09) for 2022 rose by 0.72% and 1.47% year-on-year respectively.

DSEC compiles three separate CPI series to reflect the impact of price changes for goods/services on households of different expenditure ranges. The CPI-A and CPI-B relate to about 50% and 30% of the households, which have an average monthly expenditure of MOP12,000-MOP35,999 and MOP36,000-MOP62,999 respectively; meanwhile, the Composite CPI relates to all the above-mentioned households.