MACAO, Aug. 21 (Xinhua) -- Macao's composite consumer price index (CPI) for July 2019 increased 2.60 percent year-on-year to 116.05, a slight slowdown of 0.02 percentage points from the growth in June, the special administrative region's statistic department said on Wednesday.
The latest report from the Statistics and Census Service (DSEC) indicated that the increment in July was attributable to higher charges for eating out, rising rentals for dwellings and higher prices of motor cars, gasoline and fresh pork.
Among the various sections of goods and services, price indices of education and transport grew notably by 5.81 percent and 5.09 percent respectively year-on-year, whereas the indices of communication, clothing and footwear dropped 2.45 percent and 1.25 percent.
The composite CPI for July 2019 rose 0.22 percent month-to-month. Higher charges for package tours and increases in airfares and gasoline prices pushed up the price indices of recreation and culture, and transport 1.55 percent and 0.62 percent respectively.
Price index of food and non-alcoholic beverages went up 0.47 percent owing to dearer prices of fresh pork and vegetables as well as rising charges for eating out.
For the 12 months ending July 2019, the average composite CPI rose 2.96 percent from the previous period, with notable growth in the price indices of education (5.75 percent) and transport (5.30 percent).
The DSEC report added that the average composite CPI for the first seven months of 2019 increased 2.76 percent year-on-year.
