Macau, China, March 20, 2026 (Lusa) - Annual inflation in Macau reached its highest level in two years in February, driven by the Lunar New Year, the Chinese region's Statistics and Census Service (DSEC) announced on Friday.
According to official data, the Consumer Price Index (CPI) rose 1.16% year over year, the highest level since February 2024. Inflation more than doubled from January (0.54%), which DSEC attributed to the Lunar New Year period in February, unlike in 2025, when it took place in January.
The Lunar New Year, the world's largest annual migration, is an extended holiday period in mainland China and a tourist peak in Macau, which this year ran from 15 to 23 February.
DSEC highlighted that leisure, recreation, sports, and cultural products and services recorded the largest annual increase (+7.76%), driven by higher hotel room prices and tour packages (+26.6%).
The Chinese semi-autonomous region ended 2025 with an annual inflation rate of 0.33%, the lowest value in the last four years.
In June 2021, Macau experienced the last of 10 consecutive months of falling prices, or deflation, at the peak of the economic crisis caused by the Covid-19 pandemic.
Deflation reflects weakness in domestic consumption and investment and is particularly serious, as a fall in asset prices, usually acquired through credit, creates an imbalance between the value of loans and bank guarantees.
Official data shows that in February, inflation was also felt in food and non-alcoholic beverages (up 0.92%). The cost of meals purchased away from home rose by 1.23%.
Spending on housing rents or mortgages rose by 0.63% and 0.48%, respectively. On 11 November, the Monetary Authority of Macau approved the third interest rate cut this year. In April 2024, the territory's Legislative Assembly abolished several taxes on house purchases to "increase liquidity" in the real estate market, a move at the time defended by the Secretary for Economy and Finance, Lei Wai Nong.
Due to the global rise in gold prices, the Chinese semi-autonomous region recorded a 40.7% increase in the prices of jewellery, gold smithery, and watches, products popular among tourists from mainland China. With oil prices also soaring on international markets, the cost of air tickets rose by nearly a third (32.7%).
In mainland China, Macau's largest trading partner, the CPI rose 1.3% in February, the highest increase since January 2023. In the neighbouring region of Hong Kong, inflation also accelerated in February to 1.7%, 0.6 percentage points higher than in January.
VQ/ RYOL // ADB.
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