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

HONG KONG – For 2023 as a whole, Hong Kong's composite consumer price index was 2.1 percent higher than that in the preceding year, official data showed on Monday.

The overall consumer prices rose 2.4 percent in December 2023 over the same month a year earlier, smaller than the corresponding increase of 2.6 percent in November 2023, according to the Census and Statistics Department.

Netting out the effects of all one-off relief measures of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region government, the underlying inflation rate in December 2023 was 1.4 percent, also smaller than the 1.6 percent in November 2023.

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The smaller increase was mainly due to the decreases in the prices of fresh vegetables as well as the larger decreases in electricity charges, the department said.

The underlying consumer price inflation rate remained moderate in December 2023, said a spokesman for the HKSAR government. 

Prices of meals out and takeaway food, and clothing and footwear continued to see visible increases over a year earlier.

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Price pressures on other major components remained broadly in check, the spokesman said, adding that for 2023 as a whole, the underlying consumer price inflation rate averaged 1.7 percent.

Looking ahead, overall inflation should stay moderate in the near term, said the spokesman.