Hong Kong: Inflation continues to tick down in December

Inflation declined marginally from 2.6% in November to 2.5% in December. When accounting for the effects of one-off government relief measures, inflation reached 2.9% in December, matching November’s print. The figure mostly reflected softer increases in the price of private housing rentals and meals bought away from home. Meanwhile, annual average inflation ticked up from 2.3% in November to 2.4% in December.

For the October–December period, the average of the month-on-month variations in consumer prices was 0.2% in seasonally-adjusted terms, down from 0.3% in the three-month period from September to November 2018.

A government spokesperson noted that:

“In the near term, the upside risks to inflation should be contained, as imported inflation has stayed moderate and as pressures on local rentals have weakened somewhat of late”.

Hong Kong Inflation Forecast

FocusEconomics Consensus Forecast panelists expect inflation to average 2.3% in 2019, which is unchanged from last month’s forecast. The panel expects inflation to average 2.2% in 2020.