Hong Kong's overall consumer prices registered a year-on-year increase of 2.4 percent in December 2021, the Census and Statistics Department of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) government announced on Thursday.
Netting out the effects of the HKSAR government's one-off relief measures, the year-on-year rate of increase in the composite consumer price index (CPI) in December 2021 was 1.4 percent, larger than the 1.2 percent in November 2021.
For 2021 as a whole, the composite CPI recorded a 1.6 percent increase year-on-year, while the underlying consumer price inflation rate averaged 0.6 percent.
Looking ahead, a spokesman for the HKSAR government said that external price pressures may increase further amid elevated global inflation and the pandemic-induced logistic disruptions.
Nevertheless, the underlying inflation should stay broadly in check in the near term, said the spokesman, as the latest wave of local epidemic has weighed on some consumption-related activities and domestic cost pressures remain limited.
