MACAO - The Tourist Price Index (TPI) of China's Macao Special Administrative Region (SAR) for the third quarter of 2017 increased by 2.17 percent year-on-year to 129.61, attributable to higher prices of local food, rising taxi fares, and increasing charges for accommodation and restaurant services, the SAR's statistic department said on Tuesday.

Information from the Statistics and Census Service (DSEC) indicated that among the various sections of goods and services, notable rise was observed in the price indices of accommodation (6.75 percent), restaurant services (5.52 percent) and entertainment and cultural activities (5.13 percent).

On the other hand, price indices of clothing and footwear and miscellaneous goods decreased by 3.75 percent and 2.82 percent respectively year-on-year, on account of reduced prices of men's outer clothing, handbags and jewelry.

DSEC added that in comparison with the previous quarter, TPI for the third quarter of 2017 increased by 2.59 percent. Price indices of Accommodation and Transport & Communications rose by 10.68 percent and 6.55 percent respectively owing to higher hotel room rates and airfares during the summer holidays. Meanwhile, seasonal sale of summer clothing and footwear drove down the price index of Clothing & Footwear by 0.26 percent quarter-to-quarter.

The average TPI for the last four quarters which ended the third quarter of 2017 fell by 1.86 percent from the previous period, with significant decreases in the price indices of transport and communications (12.02 percent), clothing and footwear (6.13 percent), and accommodation (5.90 percent).

For the first three quarters of 2017, TPI went down by 0.91 percent year-on-year, with notable decline in the price indices of transport and communications, and clothing and footwear, down by 10.51 percent and 7.97 percent respectively. By contrast, price index of restaurant services increased by 5.46 percent.