MACAU, June 24 - Information from the Statistics and Census Service (DSEC) indicated that the Composite CPI for May 2022 (103.64) increased by 1.10% year-on-year. The increment was attributed to higher wages of domestic helpers, dearer charges for eating out, as well as rising prices of gasoline, liquefied petroleum gas and fruits; however, the rise was partially offset by falling rentals for dwellings, lower charges for telecommunication services and reduced prices of pork. Among the various sections of goods and services, the price indices of Household Furnishings & Services and Transport grew by 11.06% and 7.17% year-on-year respectively, whereas the index of Communication fell by 10.23%. The CPI-A (103.39) and CPI-B (103.97) saw respective growth of 0.78% and 1.52% year-on-year.

In comparison with April, the Composite CPI for May rose by 0.08%. Price indices of Alcoholic Beverages & Tobacco and Transport went up by 0.71% and 0.54% respectively, driven by dearer prices of alcoholic beverages and gasoline. Price index of Food & Non-Alcoholic Beverages increased by 0.23% month-on-month as higher fruit prices and eating out charges offset the decrease in vegetable prices. On the other hand, price index of Miscellaneous Goods & Services dropped by 0.35% attributable to lower prices of gold jewellery. Despite rising prices of liquefied petroleum gas, price index of Housing & Fuels edged down by 0.03% owing to reduced rentals for dwellings. The CPI-A and CPI-B grew by 0.07% and 0.10% month-on-month respectively.

For the 12 months ended May 2022, the average Composite CPI went up by 0.81% from the previous period, and the price indices of Household Furnishings & Services (+6.91%) and Transport (+6.21%) showed a notable growth. The average CPI-A and CPI-B increased by 0.61% and 1.06% respectively over the previous period.

The average Composite CPI for the first five months of 2022 rose by 1.01% year-on-year. The average CPI-A and CPI-B grew by 0.71% and 1.40% 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.