SINGAPORE'S May consumer price index rose a seasonally adjusted 0.8 per cent from April, thanks to the higher costs of housing and transport, the Department of Statistics said in a statement on Tuesday.

From a year earlier, consumer prices fell 0.3 per cent in May, the second month of contraction, as prices for communication, transport and recreation fell, the agency said.

Singapore's consumer price index has been on the downtrend since peaking at a 26-year high of 7.5 per cent in April, May and June last year. -- THOMSON REUTERS