Source: Hong Kong Government special administrative region
The Census and Statistics Department (C&SD) released today (March 20) the Consumer Price Index (CPI) figures for February 2026. According to the Composite CPI, overall consumer prices rose by 1.7% in February 2026 over the same month a year earlier, larger than the corresponding increase (1.1%) in January 2026. Netting out the effects of all Government’s one-off relief measures, the year-on-year rate of increase in the Composite CPI (i.e. the underlying inflation rate) in February 2026 was 1.6%, also larger than that in January 2026 (1.0%). The larger increase was mainly due to the increases in the charges for package tours as well as inbound and outbound transport fares during the Chinese New Year, coupled with the fact that the Chinese New Year fell in January last year, resulting in a relatively lower base of comparison in February 2025.
It should be noted that consumer prices tend to show greater volatility in the first two months of a year due to the timing of the Chinese New Year. As the Chinese New Year fell in February this year but in January last year, the year-on-year comparison for January and February 2026 might have been affected by this factor to a certain extent. Taking the first two months of 2026 together to neutralise the effect of the Chinese New Year, the Composite CPI rose by 1.5% over the same period a year earlier. Netting out the effect of all Government’s one-off relief measures, the corresponding increase was 1.3%.