Hong Kong Special Administrative Region saw a larger year-on-year consumer price increase in December last year with overall prices up 3.8 percent mainly due to pork price hikes, official figures released in Hong Kong on Tuesday indicated.

The increase was also due to rising prices for package tours and meals bought away from home, said the Census and Statistics Department of Hong Kong.

The department said the gradual rise in inflationary pressures last year should be viewed together with the sustained robust expansion of the local economy, the strength of consumer spending and similar inflation situations in many parts of the world now.

In December, pork prices jumped 42.9 percent over the same period in 2006, while beef was up 38.8 percent and canned meat up 34.1 percent. Increases were also recorded for electricity, gas and water, housing and meals bought away from home.

The fourth quarter saw year-on-year consumer prices rise 3.5 percent. For 2007 as a whole, the price index was on average 2 percent higher than in the preceding 12-month period, mainly attributable to large increases in the price of basic foodstuffs and private housing rentals.

Global rises in food and oil prices and the weakening of the US dollar and appreciation of the Renminbi, Chinese currency, will continue to pose upside risks to inflation. While recent upward trends in private housing rentals should be monitored, sustained labor productivity growth will provide some cushioning to upward price pressures, said the department.