MACAU, January 21 - Information from the Statistics and Census Service (DSEC) indicated that the Composite CPI for December 2021 (103.07) rose by 1.00% year-on-year. The inflation rate for 2021 was 0.03%, down by 0.78 percentage points from 0.81% in 2020.

The year-on-year growth in December was attributed to higher wages of domestic helpers, increased charges for eating out, rising airfares, as well as dearer prices of gasoline and liquefied petroleum gas; however, the rise was partially offset by lower rentals for dwellings and retreating prices of pork. Among the various sections of goods and services, the price indices of Household Furnishings & Services and Transport grew by 7.88% and 6.85% year-on-year respectively, whereas the indices of Communication and Clothing & Footwear decreased by 1.93% and 1.41%. The CPI-A (102.96) and CPI-B (103.20) saw respective increases of 0.79% and 1.28% year-on-year.

In comparison with November, the Composite CPI for December edged up by 0.01%. Higher wages of domestic helpers drove up the price index of Household Furnishings & Services by 1.21%. Besides, the price indices of Clothing & Footwear and Recreation & Culture grew by 0.75% and 0.64% respectively. On the other hand, the price indices of Transport and Housing & Fuels dipped by 0.37% and 0.14% respectively due to lower gasoline prices and falling rentals for dwellings; meanwhile, the index of Food & Non-Alcoholic Beverages inched down by 0.03% as the decrease in vegetable prices negated the increase in eating out charges and fruit prices. The CPI-A dropped by 0.04% month-on-month while the CPI-B rose by 0.06%.

The average Composite CPI for the fourth quarter of 2021 (102.99) went up by 1.04% year-on-year; the average CPI-A (102.92) and CPI-B (103.07) showed respective growth of 0.87% and 1.27%.

For the whole year of 2021, the average Composite CPI (102.63) rose by 0.03% year-on-year. The increment was driven by higher airfares, increased prices of liquefied petroleum gas and gasoline, along with dearer charges for eating out and rising wages of domestic helpers; yet, the rise was partly offset by lower rentals for dwellings, falling pork prices and hotel room rates, as well as reduced charges for package tours and telecommunications service. Analysed by section, the price indices of Transport (+3.58%) and Household Furnishings & Services (+3.52%) showed notable growth, while the indices of Recreation & Culture (-6.23%) and Communication (-5.36%) recorded marked decreases. The average CPI-A (102.66) for 2021 fell by 0.05% year-on-year while the average CPI-B (102.58) went up by 0.12%.

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.