Consumer prices up 1.7% in February

The underlying inflation rate increased 1.6% year-on-year.

The overall consumer prices, measured by the Composite Consumer Price Index (CPI), rose 1.7% in February 2026 compared with the same month a year earlier, according to the Census and Statistics Department (C&SD).

This is also up from 1.1% in January 2026.

Excluding the impact of government one-off relief measures, the underlying inflation rate increased 1.6% year-on-year, also higher than January’s 1%.

The rise was mainly driven by higher charges for package tours and transport fares during the Chinese New Year, combined with a lower comparison base in February 2025, when the holiday fell in January.

Analyzed by sub-index, year-on-year increases were 1.6% for CPI(A), 1.8% for CPI(B), and 1.9% for CPI(C), up from 1.3%, 1.2%, and 0.9%, respectively, in January.

Amongst individual categories, prices went up for miscellaneous services (4.9%), transport (4.3%), electricity, gas and water (3.5%), miscellaneous goods (1.8%), alcoholic drinks and tobacco (1.8%), housing (1.1%), meals out and takeaway food (1.1%), and basic food (0.6%).

In contrast, prices fell for clothing and footwear (-3.4%) and durable goods (-2.6%).