Hong Kong’s annual inflation rate rose to 1.9% in September 2026, up from 1.7% in August and slightly above market expectations of 1.8%. This was the highest rate in three months, driven by faster price increases in several key categories: electricity, gas and water (12.9% vs 11.5% in August), transport (5.2% vs 3.9%), miscellaneous services (5.3% vs 4.7%) and housing (0.2% vs 0.1%).
Inflation for durable goods also picked up, rising to 1.1% from 0.8%, while clothing and footwear prices increased 0.3% after being flat in the previous month. By contrast, food inflation eased slightly to 0.5% from 0.6%, and price growth for miscellaneous goods slowed to 2.1% from 2.5%. Prices for alcoholic drinks and tobacco declined by 0.4% after remaining unchanged in August.
On a monthly basis, consumer prices rose 0.3% in September, following a 0.1% increase in August. The underlying Composite CPI, which excludes the impact of all one-off government relief measures, climbed 2.1% year-on-year, up from 1.9% in August.