The composite consumer price index in the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region rose 1% year on year in January, according to a report released by the SAR Census and Statistics Department yesterday.

The year-on-year growth in composite CPI was 0.3 percentage points less in January than in December because the Chinese Lunar New Year holiday, which pushes prices up, fell in the month of January in 2009 but not in 2010, said the statistics department.

Excluding the effect of one-off relief measures, the underlying consumer price index remained unchanged last month, whereas the comparable figure increased 0.3% in December.

The prices of electricity, gas and water surged 56.8% year on year, and the prices of alcohol and tobacco rose 22.9% and 25.9% over the same period of 2009, respectively. However, there was a 2% decline in the prices of durable goods.

A government spokesman said that the special administration will see more obvious inflation with a further recovery in the economy.