Singapore's consumer price index (CPI) rose by 1.3 percent in December last year over the same month of 2004, according to the figures released by the Singapore Department of Statistics (SDS) on Monday.

The price index for recreation increased by 3.3 percent in December 2005 from a year ago while that for education and stationery rose by 2.3 percent in the same month.

The CPI for housing grew by 2.2 percent in the last month of 2005 and the indices for food and health care rose by 1.1 percent and 0.6 percent respectively.

The clothing and footwear price index grew by 0.7 percent last month, while the CPI for transport and communication continued to contract by 1.1 percent in the same month due to lower car prices.

The CPI in 2005 rose by 0.5 percent over 2004.

Source: Xinhua