Macau’s average composite consumer price index (CPI) rose by 0.03 percent year-on-year in 2021, the Statistics and Census Bureau (DSEC) has announced.
According to a DSEC statement last week, the increase was driven by higher airfares, increasing prices of liquefied petroleum gas and gasoline, along with higher charges for eating out and domestic helpers’ rising wages. However, the bureau pointed out, the growth was partly offset by lower housing rents, falling pork prices and lower hotel room rates, as well as reduced charges for package tours and telecommunication services.
Last year’s price indices of Transport (+3.58 percent) and Household Furnishings and Services (+3.52 percent) showed notable growth, the statement said, while the indices of Recreation and Culture (-6.23 percent) and Communications (-5.36 percent) recorded marked decreases.
In 2020, Macau’s inflation rate stood at 0.81 percent. Macau’s economy began to be impacted by the COVID-19 epidemic in the first quarter of 2020.
In pre-pandemic 2019, Macau’s inflation rate amounted to 2.75 percent.
