Hong Kong Consumer Prices Rose 0.5% in November

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December 21, 2009 - Hong Kong’s overall consumer prices rose by 0.5% in November 2009 compared to the same month a year earlier, according to the Census and Statistics Department of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Government (HKSAR). The rise is smaller than the 2.2% increase in October 2009.

The larger year-on-year rate of change in October 2009 was attributable to the low base of comparison arising from the Government’s payment of public housing rentals in October 2008, and such effect did not come into play in November. Netting out the effects of all Government's one-off relief measures, the year-on-year rate of change in the Composite CPI (i.e. the underlying inflation rate) in November 2009 was -0.3%, same as that in October.

On a seasonally adjusted basis, the average monthly rate of change in the Composite CPI for the 3-month period from September to November 2009 was 1%, which compared to 0.4% for the 3-month period from August to October 2009. Netting out the effects of all Government's one-off relief measures, the average monthly rate of change in the Composite CPI for the 3-month period from September to November 2009 was 0.2%, and that for the 3-month period from August to October 2009 was 0.1%.

A HKSARG spokesman says that underlying Composite CPI inflation, on a year-on-year comparison, remained stable at a slightly negative level in November. On a seasonally adjusted basis, the average monthly rate of change actually turned slightly positive over the recent months. This indicated that the deflationary pressure in the economy has progressively receded, now that the economic recovery is under way.

The spokesman adds that inflationary pressure should stay muted in the near term, as the economic recovery is still at its early stage and as import prices remain soft.