On the rise: Consumer prices rose 2.5% in August over the same month last year.

August saw a larger year-on-year consumer price increase, with overall costs up 2.5% over the same month last year, higher than the 2.3% rise in July, the Census & Statistics Department says.

The larger year-on-year rise was mainly attributable to the enlarged increases in the price of fresh vegetables.

In August, price rises were recorded for electricity, gas and water (4.8%), housing (4.8%), food (excluding meals bought away from home) (4%), miscellaneous services (2.9%), clothing and footwear (2.5%), miscellaneous goods (2%), meals bought away from home (1.4%) and transport (0.3%).

Year-on-year falls in prices were recorded for durable goods (-7.0%) and alcohol and tobacco (-3.2%).

Taking the first eight months of 2006 together, the Composite Consumer Price Index rose 2.0% over a year earlier.

For the three months ending August, the Composite CPI grew 2.3% over a year earlier.

For the 12 months ending August, the Composite CPI was on average 1.8% higher than in the preceding 12 month period.

Excluding the effect of volatile food prices, the underlying price pressures were actually rather modest, as also evident from the slight easing in the pace of increase in the seasonally adjusted CPI series over the past few months.