A vendor sells dried produce on a street in Hong Kong on Sept 21, 2022. (PETER PARKS / AFP)

HONG KONG - Hong Kong's overall consumer prices rose 1.8 percent in October over the same month a year earlier, smaller than the corresponding increase of 4.4 percent in September, the Census and Statistics Department said on Monday.

The larger increase in September 2022 was mainly due to the low base of comparison that resulted from the waiver of public housing rentals by Hong Kong Housing Authority in September 2021, according to the department. 

Netting out the effects of all government one-off relief measures, the year-on-year rate of increase in the composite consumer price index (CPI) was 1.7 percent

Netting out the effects of all government one-off relief measures, the year-on-year rate of increase in the composite consumer price index (CPI) was 1.7 percent, slightly smaller than that the 1.8 percent in September.

A Hong Kong Special Administrative Region government spokesman said that underlying consumer price inflation remained moderate in October.

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 The year-on-year increase in food prices showed some moderation, though remained relatively fast. Prices of clothing and footwear continued to record a visible increase, and prices of energy-related items rose sharply. But price pressures on other major components remained broadly in check, the spokesman said.

Notwithstanding the intensive external price pressures, overall inflation should remain moderate in the near term amid largely mild domestic cost pressures. The government will continue to monitor the situation, he added.

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