The number of one and two-person households grew by more than 25 percent over the last five years, according to the latest Household Income and Expenditure Survey.
The survey, held every five years, showed that the number of households has increased by 12,904 (or 6.7 percent) since the last survey was held in 2017 and 2018, making for a current total of about 204,177 households. The rise was driven by an increase of 10,223 households in Taipa, Coloane, and the parish of Nossa Senhora de Fátima.
The new survey also showed that the average household size in Macao has decreased from 3.04 to 2.83 people. The shift was accompanied by a 7.8 percent increase in monthly per-capita household income, which has reached 20,815 patacas.
[See more: Interest rate cuts will benefit Macao’s economy, say local economists]
Average monthly per-capita household consumption expenditure also rose by 9.2 percent, to 13,484 patacas. The Statistics and Census Service noted that was because “the decrease in the average household size led to fewer household members sharing some of the recurrent expenses.”
A massive 42.1 percent increase in the average monthly amount of government subsidies and financial aid provided to households in the year from 2023 to 2024 was attributed to the series of welfare benefits rolled out by the government during the Covid-19 pandemic.
Meanwhile, August’s consumer price index (CPI) was also published on Friday, showing 0.74 percent year-on-year growth – down 0.08 percent from July. By category, the price indices of education, “miscellaneous goods and services” and health saw the biggest rises when compared with August 2023. They were up by 5.03, 2.57 and 2.05 percentage points respectively. The price index for transport dropped by 3.11 percent.
