Transportation and services witnessed the largest increase in prices with 2.67 percent and 1.78 percent respectively, followed by beverages and tobacco (1.76 percent) and housing, water and electricity, fuel and building materials (1.68 percent) while telecommunications dropped by 0.13 percent and education remained unchanged. After a slight rise in November, food prices continued their upward trend by 1.4 percent. The climb in prices for housing, water and electricity and building materials was mainly due to high demand before the New Year Festival.