MACAO - Macao's Composite Consumer Price Index (CPI) for March this year went up by 6.22 percent over the same period last year, according to the figures released Monday by the city's Statistics and Census Service (DSEC).

The inflation of March 2012 was mainly caused by the price hike in charges for dining out and dearer prices of vegetables, the DSEC said.

Analyzed by section of alcoholic beverages and tobacco, food and non-alcoholic beverages, miscellaneous goods and services recorded notable year-on-year increase of more than 8 percent during the period.

Meanwhile, reduced charges for mobile phone services caused the price index of Communication to fall by 6.51 percent year-on- year.

The average Composite CPI for the first quarter of 2012 increased by 6.28 percent year-on-year. For the 12 months ending in March 2012, the average Composite CPI rose by 6.12 percent from the preceding period.