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Fiona Chow

Hongkongers will be hit with increases to their utility and food bills, transport fares and public flat rents from January.
The Post lists the items that will be subject to higher costs in 2025.
1. Electricity bills will rise by nearly 1 per cent
CLP Power, serving Kowloon, the New Territories and Lantau Island, will increase fees by 0.98 per cent per unit of electricity.
Customers of HK Electric, which serves Hong Kong Island and several outlying islands, will also bear an extra 0.9 per cent rise.
The new fees take effect from January 1.
In terms of percentages, the companies’ increase will be the same as in 2023.
“Our operating expenses have been increasing under the pressure of rising material costs and a tight labour market,” CLP Power said, adding it was aware of public concerns over the continuous increments.
HK Electric estimated that following the fee adjustments, more than 80 per cent of residential customers would be billed no more than an extra HK$10 (US$1.30) in January.
2. Three franchised bus operators to raise fares by up to 7.5 per cent
Citybus will raise ticket prices by 7.5 per cent, while New Lantao Bus and KMB will increase their fares by 6.5 per cent and 4.3 per cent respectively. The new fares will be effective from January 5.
Commissioner for Transport Angela Lee Chung-yan earlier said the government allowed the increases after considering the potential impact on people’s livelihoods and the bus companies’ financial sustainability.

Lee said that after the increases took effect, 95 per cent of passengers would pay no more than HK$1 extra per journey. About four in five travellers would pay up to 50 HK cents extra per trip.
Fares for some routes, including Citybus’s airport and North Lantau franchise, will remain unchanged.
But the increase for the urban and New Territories franchise translates to an average of 60 HK cents, based on its current average fare of HK$8.10 per journey.
KMB said passengers would have to pay 30 HK cents more per trip after the increase, while the monthly ticket would also be adjusted to HK$834 from HK$800.
3. Auto-LPG will cost 1 HK cent more per litre
Starting from January 1, prices at 12 filling stations with auto liquefied petroleum gas will range from HK$3.75 to HK$4.64 per litre, amounting to a 1 HK cent rise.
The adjusted price will remain in place until January 31.
A spokesman for the Electrical and Mechanical Services Department said last week that the pricing formula specified in the contracts had affected the price.
The stations affected included ones on Marsh Road in Wan Chai, Wai Lok Street in Kwun Tong and Ngo Cheung Road in West Kowloon.

4. McDonald’s bumps up some menu items
The fast-food chain said a few of its popular sets would be increased by between 50 HK cents and HK$1.
Starting from January 2, the price of a sausage McMuffin will go up from HK$29 to HK$30. A chicken McNuggets set meal will remain unchanged at HK$29.
This is the third time in four years that McDonald’s has edged up its prices. In 2022 and 2023, it raised the price for certain items by HK$1.
5. A 10 per cent rent increase for public housing tenants
The Housing Authority said tenants of public housing would need to pay 10 per cent more in rent starting from January.
The new monthly rents would increase by between HK$49 and HK$572, with about 60 per cent of tenants set to pay up to HK$250 extra.
Housing minister Winnie Ho Wing-yin estimated the average rent increase would be HK$230. Some reports estimated that families living in flats for four to five people would have to pay HK$300 to HK$400 more each month.
In February, then housing director Rosanna Law Shuk-pui said the average rent was about HK$2,200.
As of March, about 807,800 households lived in public rental flats, with 80 per cent of them paying normal rent.


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CLP Power will increase fees by 0.98 per cent per unit of electricity. Photo: Jelly Tse

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Hong Kong

From electricity and transport to fast food and rent, prices are set to rise from January


From electricity and transport to fast food and rent, prices are set to rise from January.
