Customers shop for fruit at a supermarket in Toronto, Canada, Jan. 19, 2026. Canada's Consumer Price Index (CPI) rose 2.4 percent year on year in December, following a 2.2 percent increase in November, Statistics Canada said on Monday. (Photo by Zou Zheng/Xinhua)

OTTAWA, Jan. 19 (Xinhua) -- Canada's Consumer Price Index (CPI) rose 2.4 percent year on year in December, following a 2.2 percent increase in November, Statistics Canada said on Monday.

According to the national statistical agency, the acceleration in the all-items CPI was driven by the temporary Goods and Services Tax/Harmonized Sales Tax break that began on Dec. 14, 2024.

Moderating the acceleration in the headline CPI was a year-over-year decline in prices for gasoline in December, said the agency, adding that excluding gasoline, the CPI rose 3 percent in December, following a 2.6 percent increase in November.

The CPI rose 2.1 percent on an annual average basis in 2025, following an increase of 2.4 percent in 2024. Although this was the smallest annual average increase since 2020, prices remained elevated in 2025, rising 19.9 percent over the past five years, it said. ■

A customer shops for fruit at a supermarket in Toronto, Canada, Jan. 19, 2026. Canada's Consumer Price Index (CPI) rose 2.4 percent year on year in December, following a 2.2 percent increase in November, Statistics Canada said on Monday. (Photo by Zou Zheng/Xinhua)

A customer shops for groceries at a supermarket in Toronto, Canada, Jan. 19, 2026. Canada's Consumer Price Index (CPI) rose 2.4 percent year on year in December, following a 2.2 percent increase in November, Statistics Canada said on Monday. (Photo by Zou Zheng/Xinhua)