Hong Kong's Gross Domestic Product grew 8.2 percent year-on-year in real terms in the first quarter of 2010, the fastest since 2006, a government report showed Friday.

On a seasonally adjusted quarter-to-quarter comparison, Hong Kong GDP rose 2.4 percent in real terms in the first quarter -- the fourth consecutive quarter-to-quarter growth, according to a report released by Hong Kong's Census and Statistics Department.

Government Economist Helen Chan said with the Hong Kong economy bouncing back for four quarters in a row, the expansion of GDP had largely returned to its early 2008 peak by the first quarter of 2010, recouping all the lost ground in the 2009 financial turmoil.

Given the strong growth momentum in Hong Kong and the region, and if no major external shocks occur, real GDP growth for 2010 as a whole will very likely exceed the forecast of 4 percent to 5 percent, she said.

However, recognizing the prevailing uncertainties in the external environment, the forecast GDP growth is being maintained in the current round.

Statistics also showed that the seasonally adjusted unemployment rate has successively come down since mid-2009 to 4.4 percent in the first quarter of 2010. Wages and earnings in overall terms also rose towards the end of last year.

"Better job and income prospects should in turn render the key driver for consumption growth in the quarters ahead. Investment as a whole should show further growth, with private sector investment recovering further in addition to the expected pick-up in public sector works," Chan said.

Consumer price inflation, which was once negative for several months last year, inched up in the first quarter of 2010.

Underlying consumer price inflation was 0.8 percent in the first quarter, up from -0.1 percent in the preceding quarter.

"With the movements of consumer prices so far largely in line with earlier expectations, the forecast rates of the headline and underlying consumer price inflation this year as a whole remain unchanged at 2.3 percent and 1.5 percent," said Chan.

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