Consumer prices up almost 1 percent

The Composite Consumer Price Index (CPI) increased by 0.95 percent year-on-year to 109.2 in May 2017, according to information released by the Statistics and Census Service (DSEC). The increase last month was 0.15 percentage points higher than the growth in CPI during April.

In a statement released yesterday, DSEC attributed the increase to higher charges for eating out and outpatient services, as well as rising tuition fees, as in the previous month.

In May, the price indexes of the categories of Education and Health increased by 7.46 percent and 5.14 percent respectively year-on-
year. Meanwhile, the index for Food & Non-Alcoholic Beverages, which accounts for the largest share of household expenditure, increased by 1.62 percent.

At the same time, the price indexes of Communication and Housing & Fuels dropped by 5.79 percent and 1.28 percent respectively year-on-year.

For the 12 months ending May 2017, the average Composite CPI increased by 1.37 percent from the previous period, with a marked increase in the price indexes of Alcoholic Beverages & Tobacco (+10 percent), Education (+7.75 percent) and Transport (+6.12 percent). The average Composite CPI for the first five months of 2017 increased by 0.92 percent year-on-year.

CPI reflects the impact of price changes on the general households in Macau and is used as a key measure of inflation.

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