Information from the Statistics and Census Service indicated that the Composite CPI for December 2006 went up by 0.61% over November to 110.61. The increment was mainly driven by the increases in the price index of Housing & fuels; Food & non-alcoholic beverages; Clothing & footwear; and Recreation & culture.

Compared with November 2006, the index of Clothing & footwear; Recreation & culture; and Housing & fuels recorded notable increases of 1.57%, 1.12% and 0.92% respectively, which were attributable to the rising prices of men's and women's clothing and women's footwear, higher charges for outbound package tours during Christmas holidays, as well as higher rentals for housing. Moreover, dearer prices of air tickets, rising charges for meals bought away from home and medical services raised the index of Transport; Health; and Food & non-alcoholic beverages by 0.75%, 0.63% and 0.59% respectively.

On the other hand, the index of Communication fell slightly by 0.02%, on account of lower prices of mobile phones.

The Composite CPI for December 2006 registered a year-on-year increase of 4.59%. For the fourth quarter of 2006, the Composite CPI rose by 1.08% and 4.39% over the preceding quarter and same quarter of 2005.

In addition, the CPI-A and CPI-B for December 2006 were 111.75 and 110.30, up by 0.52% and 0.61% respectively compared with November.

In 2006, the annual average Composite CPI reached 108.42; the annual inflation rate was 5.15%, with marked increases in the indices of Housing & fuels (+11.75%), Education (+8.15%), as well as Food & non-alcoholic beverages (+3.71%). The annual average CPI-A and CPI-B for 2006 rose by 5.75% and 4.93% over 2005 to 109.45 and 108.15 respectively.

The Composite CPI reflects the impacts of price changes on the general population. The CPI-A relates to about 49% of households, which have an average monthly expenditure of MOP 3,000 to MOP 9,999, whereas the CPI-B relates to about 31% of households, which have an average monthly expenditure of MOP 10,000 to MOP 19,999.