Hong Kong inflation · Consumer Price Index
Hong Kong inflation trends
From annual inflation rates and categories of everyday spending to the change in purchasing power over ten years, see how prices in Hong Kong have changed over time. The Census and Statistics Department's Composite Consumer Price Index shows how overall inflation differs from individual living expenses, and what slower inflation really means for the price level.
Trend 1997–2025 | latest 2026 data
September 2026
0.2 percentage points higher than the previous month
A catty of vegetables at the wet market, lunch at a cha chaan teng, the monthly cost of transport and housing: these are where people in Hong Kong feel prices change. Some prices creep up almost unnoticed; others barely move for years and occasionally even fall. The prices of individual items stay in the memory, but to understand how Hong Kong's overall cost of living has changed, different kinds of spending have to be compared together. The inflation trend since 1997, everyday spending categories and the change in purchasing power over ten years show the long-term, cumulative effect of prices.
Hong Kong's annual inflation rate (1997–2025)
Choose a time range, then click or tap the line to see the annual average inflation rate for a year.
Swipe the chart sideways to see the full timeline.
The latest 1.9% is the single-month year-on-year change for September 2026; the chart shows the average inflation rate for each complete year. The two are measured differently.
As inflation rises and falls, how should long-term price changes be read?
The ups and downs of annual inflation reflect changes in average prices in Hong Kong at different times. When reading the long-term trend, the most important point is the difference between the inflation rate and the price level: even when inflation falls from a higher level, as long as it is still positive, average prices are still rising, only by less. Only negative inflation means that average prices are lower than in the comparison period. The chart uses the average inflation rate for complete years, which is measured differently from the latest single-month year-on-year change at the top of the page, so the two are best read separately. Only by joining up many years of figures can the continuity of price changes be understood.
Consumer Price Index
How does the Consumer Price Index measure the cost of living?
It tracks a basket of goods and services that Hong Kong households commonly buy, such as food, housing, transport and utilities, to show how prices change on average over time.
Covers housing, food, transport, utilities and other common goods and services.
Items that households spend more on carry more weight in the overall index.
The year-on-year change compares a month with the same month a year earlier, showing whether overall inflation rose or fell.
Compiled from the average spending pattern of about 90% of Hong Kong households in the relevant expenditure range.
Living costs
September 2026: how did different living expenses change?
The overall inflation rate is a weighted average. Splitting it into the Census and Statistics Department's nine sections of goods and services shows that different living costs do not change in step.
Year-on-year change by main section of goods and services (compared with September 2025)
Food includes basic foodstuffs and meals bought away from home; the Composite CPI calculates overall inflation using the spending weight of each section.
One inflation rate, different experiences across living expenses
The overall inflation rate is a weighted average and may not directly reflect every household's experience. Housing, food, transport, utilities and other items carry different weights in household spending, and price changes in individual categories can differ widely. In daily life, someone who often eats out naturally has a different mix of spending from a family that mostly cooks at home. When reading the category chart, first compare which items rose or fell most noticeably, then note their weight in the overall Consumer Price Index, so that the rise in a single category is not mistaken for a change in Hong Kong's overall cost of living.
Purchasing power
Over ten years, how has the purchasing power of HK$100 changed?
The Composite CPI converts the average shopping basket, turning the overall price change over a period into an amount that is easier to grasp.
Calculation: HK$100 × Composite CPI for September 2026 (111.2) ÷ index for September 2016 (93.3). Calculated by Agoodeal; the result reflects average prices overall, not the actual cost of every item or every household's spending.
Over ten years, how much does the same HK$100 buy?
A HK$100 note keeps the same face value for ten years, but the goods and services it can buy may gradually shrink. This change in purchasing power often makes the long-term effect of prices easier to understand than the inflation rate of any single year. The conversion in the chart compares the Composite Consumer Price Index for the same month ten years apart, turning HK$100 at the start into the approximate amount needed at the end. It represents the change in the price of the same basket of average goods and services. It cannot be treated as any household's actual spending, and it does not mean that every item that cost HK$100 ten years ago has gone up in the same proportion.
Data explained
What should you keep in mind when reading inflation data?
First separate the latest month from the annual average
The 1.9% at the top of the page is the year-on-year change between September 2026 and September 2025; the historical chart shows the average year-on-year change for each complete year. They answer different questions and should not be compared as if they were the same series.
Slower inflation does not mean falling prices
If inflation falls from 3% to 2%, for example, prices are still rising, only more slowly. Only when the inflation rate turns negative are average prices lower than a year earlier; this is called deflation.
The overall rate does not mean every cost rose by the same amount
The Composite CPI is weighted by average household spending. Items with larger weights, such as housing and food, have more effect on the overall result; the change in an individual category can be far higher or lower than overall inflation.
The inflation you feel can differ
The official inflation rate reflects an average shopping basket. In September 2026, for example, the “Electricity, gas and water” section changed by +12.9% year on year, while “Alcoholic drinks and tobacco” changed by -0.4%. If more of your spending goes on categories with bigger rises, the pressure on your cost of living may be higher than the overall average, and vice versa. Compare with the category chart above to see where your larger expenses fall.
Keep the long-term cumulative effect in mind
Each year's inflation builds on the previous year's prices. Even when a single year's rise looks mild, over many years it noticeably erodes purchasing power, so read it together with the long-term trend and the purchasing power conversion.
Sources and notes
The whole page uses only the Census and Statistics Department's Composite Consumer Price Index. The top of the page shows the latest single-month year-on-year change and the historical chart shows the average year-on-year change for complete years; read the two separately.
- Main data
- Census and Statistics Department, Composite Consumer Price Index
- Latest monthly data
- September 2026
- Annual chart
- 1997 to 2025
- Update frequency
- Published monthly by the Census and Statistics Department
- Data checked
- 26 October 2026, 23:10 (Hong Kong time)
Official sources
- Census and Statistics Department: Composite Consumer Price Index table (opens in a new tab)
- Census and Statistics Department: table by section of goods and services (opens in a new tab)
- Census and Statistics Department: consumer price statistics and press releases (opens in a new tab)
Intellectual property rights in the source data belong to the Hong Kong SAR Government and the relevant data providers (Census and Statistics Department). Applicable terms: C&SD Important Notices (opens in a new tab). Values compiled or calculated by Agoodeal are not official figures.
Information and tool results are for general reference only and are not a recommendation or a basis for an individual decision; verify important matters independently. For limitation of liability, see Data use and disclaimer.
See the full data (29 rows)
Annual average year-on-year change in the Composite CPI: a complete-year average, different from the latest month at the top of the page. A negative figure means average prices that year were lower than the year before.
| Year | Annual average year-on-year change |
|---|---|
| 2025 | 1.4% |
| 2024 | 1.7% |
| 2023 | 2.1% |
| 2022 | 1.9% |
| 2021 | 1.6% |
| 2020 | 0.3% |
| 2019 | 2.9% |
| 2018 | 2.4% |
| 2017 | 1.5% |
| 2016 | 2.4% |
| 2015 | 3.0% |
| 2014 | 4.4% |
| 2013 | 4.3% |
| 2012 | 4.1% |
| 2011 | 5.3% |
| 2010 | 2.4% |
| 2009 | 0.5% |
| 2008 | 4.3% |
| 2007 | 2.0% |
| 2006 | 2.0% |
| 2005 | 1.0% |
| 2004 | -0.4% |
| 2003 | -2.6% |
| 2002 | -3.0% |
| 2001 | -1.6% |
| 2000 | -3.8% |
| 1999 | -4.0% |
| 1998 | 2.8% |
| 1997 | 5.8% |
How the data were compiled and converted
The whole page uses only the Composite Consumer Price Index (October 2019 to September 2020 = 100).
The latest inflation rate at the top of the page is the official monthly year-on-year change; the historical chart uses the official annual average year-on-year change and lists complete years only.
The living cost categories use the Census and Statistics Department's year-on-year change by section of goods and services for September 2026, the same month as the top of the page. Press releases further split food into meals bought away from home and basic foodstuffs.
The purchasing power conversion compares only the index for the same month ten years apart; if there is no official index for that month, the page does not substitute another month. Official figures may be revised later.