Inflation in Hong Kong
In the year to August 2026, consumer prices in Hong Kong rose 1.7%, the same pace as a month earlier. Since October 1980 prices have risen 471.1%, which means HK$100 then buys what HK$571.13 buys now, so the same basket of goods costs 5.7 times what it did.
Cumulative & Yearly Inflation
Inflation in Hong Kong by year
Inflation is the change in that year's average prices against the year before, which is the figure usually quoted. The last two columns take HK$100 in January of that year and show what it is worth in August 2026, the most recent month on record. Only years measured in full are listed, so the year now running appears once it ends.
| Year | Inflation | HK$100 is now | Cumulative inflation |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1990 | 10.3% | 277.00 | 177.0% |
| 2000 | -3.7% | 154.97 | 55.0% |
| 2010 | 2.3% | 150.75 | 50.7% |
| 2024 | 1.7% | 103.94 | 3.9% |
| 2025 | 1.4% | 101.93 | 1.9% |
Every year from 1982 to 2025
| Year | Inflation | HK$100 is now | Cumulative inflation |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1982 | 11.0% | 485.96 | 386.0% |
| 1983 | 10.0% | 448.58 | 348.6% |
| 1984 | 8.5% | 401.45 | 301.4% |
| 1985 | 3.6% | 384.72 | 284.7% |
| 1986 | 3.6% | 373.06 | 273.1% |
| 1987 | 5.7% | 356.27 | 256.3% |
| 1988 | 7.8% | 334.74 | 234.7% |
| 1989 | 10.2% | 305.23 | 205.2% |
| 1990 | 10.3% | 277.00 | 177.0% |
| 1991 | 11.2% | 248.99 | 149.0% |
| 1992 | 9.6% | 226.12 | 126.1% |
| 1993 | 8.8% | 205.19 | 105.2% |
| 1994 | 8.8% | 191.36 | 91.4% |
| 1995 | 9.0% | 173.40 | 73.4% |
| 1996 | 6.3% | 162.70 | 62.7% |
| 1997 | 5.8% | 153.04 | 53.0% |
| 1998 | 2.8% | 145.22 | 45.2% |
| 1999 | -4.0% | 146.75 | 46.8% |
| 2000 | -3.7% | 154.97 | 55.0% |
| 2001 | -1.6% | 157.39 | 57.4% |
| 2002 | -3.0% | 162.94 | 62.9% |
| 2003 | -2.6% | 165.62 | 65.6% |
| 2004 | -0.4% | 168.13 | 68.1% |
| 2005 | 0.9% | 168.65 | 68.6% |
| 2006 | 2.0% | 165.62 | 65.6% |
| 2007 | 2.0% | 162.46 | 62.5% |
| 2008 | 4.3% | 157.39 | 57.4% |
| 2009 | 0.6% | 152.62 | 52.6% |
| 2010 | 2.3% | 150.75 | 50.7% |
| 2011 | 5.3% | 145.60 | 45.6% |
| 2012 | 4.1% | 137.30 | 37.3% |
| 2013 | 4.3% | 133.33 | 33.3% |
| 2014 | 4.4% | 127.50 | 27.5% |
| 2015 | 3.0% | 122.57 | 22.6% |
| 2016 | 2.4% | 119.53 | 19.5% |
| 2017 | 1.5% | 118.00 | 18.0% |
| 2018 | 2.4% | 116.02 | 16.0% |
| 2019 | 2.9% | 113.29 | 13.3% |
| 2020 | 0.3% | 112.49 | 12.5% |
| 2021 | 1.6% | 109.59 | 9.6% |
| 2022 | 1.9% | 108.31 | 8.3% |
| 2023 | 2.1% | 105.73 | 5.7% |
| 2024 | 1.7% | 103.94 | 3.9% |
| 2025 | 1.4% | 101.93 | 1.9% |
A short history of inflation in Hong Kong
The Dollar Peg (1983 onwards)
Hong Kong's inflation is largely decided elsewhere. The Hong Kong dollar has been pegged to the United States dollar since October 1983, and a currency board leaves no room for an independent interest rate: whatever the Federal Reserve sets, Hong Kong imports. The mechanism runs both ways, and produced outright falling prices between 1998 and 2004, when the peg forced Hong Kong to adjust to the Asian crisis through wages and prices rather than through the exchange rate.
Imported Policy (2009 to 2011)
When American rates were held near zero after 2008 while Hong Kong's own economy was growing with the mainland's, policy was far looser than local conditions warranted, and inflation reached 8.0% in the year to July 2011. The trade-off is deliberate: the peg buys certainty for a financial centre at the cost of the ability to set policy for the local cycle.
Post-Covid Inflation (2021 to 2023)
In Hong Kong, prices rose fastest in September 2022, at 4.3%. The causes of the post-Covid inflation were global in nature, beginning with the lockdowns: factories and ports closed and the shipping between them fell out of sequence, so goods took longer to make and longer to arrive. Governments had spent heavily supporting household incomes through those closures, so when restrictions lifted there was money waiting to be spent and not enough on the shelves to spend it on. Then in February 2022 Russia invaded Ukraine, disrupting two of the world's largest suppliers of wheat, fertiliser, oil and gas at once, and the cost of everything grown, heated or transported rose with them.
Because the causes were shared, so was the timing: most countries peaked within a few months of one another in late 2022. The major inflation events covers this episode and the others in more detail.
Common questions about inflation in Hong Kong
What is the current inflation rate in Hong Kong?
Prices in Hong Kong rose 1.7% in the year to August 2026. That is unchanged on the month before.
What would HK$100 in October 1980 be worth today?
HK$100.00 in October 1980 has the same buying power as HK$571.13 in August 2026, a rise of 471.1%.
What would HK$100 in January 1990 be worth today?
HK$100.00 in January 1990 has the same buying power as HK$277.00 in August 2026, a rise of 177.0%.
What would HK$100 in January 2010 be worth today?
HK$100.00 in January 2010 has the same buying power as HK$150.75 in August 2026, a rise of 50.7%.
What would HK$100 in January 2020 be worth today?
HK$100.00 in January 2020 has the same buying power as HK$112.49 in August 2026, a rise of 12.5%.
How inflation in Hong Kong is measured
The figures on this page come from Hong Kong's Census and Statistics Department (Composite CPI, table 510-60001). The series is indexed so that a chosen base year equals 100, and the calculator works out the ratio between any two dates you pick.
The currency shown is the Hong Kong dollar (HK$). Whether that brings American inflation with it is a separate question, and mostly it does not. Coverage runs from October 1980 to August 2026, and updates automatically as each new release is published. Figures for the most recent periods can be revised by the statistics office after first publication.
Use this data
Click the reference to select it.
Compare Inflation. “Inflation in Hong Kong.” Figures for August 2026. https://compareinflation.com/inflation-in-hong-kong/
Download the full series (CSV) — 551 months, October 1980 to August 2026, with the annual rate for each.