Singapore's consumer price index (CPI) rose by 0.6 percent in April over the same month of last year while it rose by 0.4 percent over March, according to figures released by the Singapore Department of Statistics (SDS) on Wednesday.

The price index for clothing and footwear grew by 0.7 percent in April year-on-year and that for food grew by 1.2 percent.

The CPI for health care and education & stationery grew by 2.5 percent and 0.2 percent respectively in the fourth month of this year, while the recreation and others price index rose by 3.0 percent.

Housing cost fell by 1.1 percent year-on-year in April while cost for transport and communication contracted by 0.5 percent in the same month.

For the first four months of this year, the CPI rose by 0.6 percent over the same period of last year.

The CPI is one of the most useful indicators of inflation. It measures the change in the prices of a fixed basket of goods and services commonly purchased by the majority of households.

Source: Xinhua