THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 28, 1991
1
CONSUMER PRICE INDEXES FOR JANUARY PUBLISHED
THE CENSUS AND STATISTICS DEPARTMENT TODAY (THURSDAY) PUBLISHED THE CONSUMER PRICE INDEXES FOR JANUARY 1991.
THE CPI(A) 1991, AT 149.8 AND JANUARY 1990.
FOR SEP. 85 = 100)
JANUARY AND CP1(B) (OCT. 84 - 149.2 RESPECTIVELY, WERE BOTH 10.8% HIGHER THAN
IN
THOSE RECORDED IN THESE RATES OF INCREASE WERE LOWER THAN DECEMBER 1990 (11.3% FOR CPI(A) AND 11.1% FOR CPI(B)) AND WERE SIMILAR 10.8% FOR TO THOSE RECORDED IN NOVEMBER 1990 (10.9% FOR CPI(A) AND CPI (B)). THE SLOWER RATES OF INCREASE IN JANUARY 1991 WERE PARTLY DUE TO A RELATIVELY HIGH BASE OF COMPARISON IN JANUARY 1990 WHEN THE LUNAR NEW YEAR HOLIDAYS TOOK PLACE LAST YEAR.
THE AVERAGE CPI(A) AND AVERAGE CPI(B) FOR THE 12 MONTHS JANUARY 1991, AT 143.2 AND 142.8 RESPECTIVELY, WERE BOTH 9.8% THAN THE AVERAGE FOR THE 12 MONTHS ENDED JANUARY 1990.
ENDED HIGHER
INCREASE IN
ON A YEAR-ON-YEAR COMPARISON, FASTER RATES CPI(A) IN JANUARY 1991 WERE RECORDED IN THE INDEXES FOR FUEL AND LIGHT TOBACCO (17.3%), TRANSPORT AND VEHICLES (15.5%), ALCOHOLIC DRINKS AND FOR HOME CONSUMPTION (14.2%), SERVICES (13.1%) AND HOUSING (12.7%),
THE CORRESPONDING RATES OF INCREASE FOR THE SAME COMPONENTS THE CPI(B) WERE 16.4%, 16.3%, 14.8%, 11.6% AND 11.9% RESPECTIVELY.
IN
THESE IN
WEIGHTING IN THE INDEX FOR FOODSTUFFS, WHICH HAS THE LARGEST THE INDEX, INCREASED BY 9.7% IN CPI(A) AND BY 10.1% IN CPI(B). SIX COMPONENTS TOGETHER ACCOUNTED FOR 89% OF THE OVERALL INCREASE THE CPI(A) AND 87% OF THE INCREASE IN THE CPI(B).
COMPARING JANUARY 1991 WITH DECEMBER 1990, THE CPI(A) INCREASED BY 0.8% AND THE CPI(B), BY 0.7%, LARGELY BECAUSE OF HIGHER CHARGES FOR PLACES AND FOR TELEPHONE MEALS
OTHER EATING IN RESTAURANTS AND
RENTS FOR SOME SERVICES, HIGHER PRICES OF FRESH FRUIT AND HIGHER PRIVATE HOUSING UNITS.
ENDED JANUARY 1991,
AN
THE AVERAGE
DURING THE THREE-MONTH PERIOD SEASONALLY ADJUSTED CPI(A) AND CPI(B) BOTH INCREASED AT RATE OF 0.9% PER MONTH.
THE CPI(A) AND THE CP1(B) ARE BASED ON THE EXPENDITURE PATTERNS WHICH OF 50% AND 30%, RESPECTIVELY, OF URBAN HOUSEHOLDS IN HONG KONG,
EXPENDITURE SURVEY. WERE DERIVED FROM THE 1984/85 HOUSEHOLD
$2,000 AND
THE CPI (A) REFERS TO HOUSEHOLDS SPENDING BETWEEN $6,499 A MONTH AT THAT TIME AND THE CPI(B) BETWEEN $6,500 AND $9,999 A MONTH.
NINE
AS
CHANGES IN THE INDEXES FOR JANUARY 1991 IN RESPECT OF THE
INDEXES, PRICE IN SECTIONS
THE TWO CONSUMER COMMODITY/SERVICE COMPARED WITH DECEMBER 1990 AND JANUARY 1990, ARE GIVEN BELOW.
/(OCTOBER 1984