TAIPEI, Sept. 6 (Xinhua) -- Taiwan's Consumer Price Index (CPI), a main gauge of inflation, grew by 1.53 percent year on year in August, according to the island's statistics agency.

The agency mainly attributed the rise to price increases in cigarettes, fuel, air tickets, gas, eggs, dairy produce and fruit.

Vegetables, telecom fees and consumer electronics, however, saw price drops compared with a year ago.

The core CPI, which excludes vegetables, fruit and energy, saw a year-on-year rise of 1.36 percent.

For the first eight months of the year, the CPI was up 1.64 percent year on year, while the core CPI gained 1.44 percent.