Macau’s composite consumer price index for last month rose a mere 0.03 percent year-on-year, the lowest growth recorded since November 2009, which also represented a drop of 0.24 percentage points from the year-on-year increase of July (+0.27 percent), the Statistics and Census Bureau (DSEC) has announced.
Last month’s small growth rate was due to higher prices of fresh pork and the higher cost of eating out and outpatient services, as well as rising residential rents.
Among the various sections of goods and services, the price indices of education and health rose by 5.15 percent and 3.72 percent year-on-year respectively, whereas the indices of recreation/culture and communication fell markedly by 12.10 percent and 11.28 percent
The composite CPI for August increased by 0.06 percent month-to-month.
For the 12 months ended last month, the average composite CPI rose by 1.96 percent from the previous period (September 2018 to August 2019), with notable growth in the price indices of education (+5.17 percent), food & non-alcoholic beverages (+4.73 percent) and health (+4.58 percent).
The average composite CPI for the first eight months of this year rose by 1.59 percent year-on-year.
