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China's consumer inflation slows in February, producer prices drop
Updated 19:05, 09-Mar-2023
CGTN
Local residents shopping in a grocery store in Dalian, Liaoning Province, China, March 9, 2023. /CFP
Local residents shopping in a grocery store in Dalian, Liaoning Province, China, March 9, 2023. /CFP

Local residents shopping in a grocery store in Dalian, Liaoning Province, China, March 9, 2023. /CFP

China's consumer inflation has slowed in February as the prices of food and consumer goods eased from January.

The consumer price index (CPI), the main gauge of the country's inflation, rose 1 percent year on year, data from the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) showed on Thursday. 

China's consumer inflation slows in February, producer prices drop

On a monthly basis, February CPI decreased 0.5 percent from January.

Senior NBS statistician Dong Lijuan said the decrease was due to factors such as the decline in consumer demand after Spring Festival and sufficient market supply.

Food prices went down 2 percent and pork prices, which take up a significant portion of the basket of goods on the CPI, dropped 11.4 percent from the previous month.

Core CPI, which excludes the volatile prices of food and energy, was 0.6 percent higher than a year earlier, 0.4 percentage point lower than in January.

Factory prices further declines

The producer price index (PPI), which measures costs for goods at the factory gate, went down 1.4 percent year on year in February, the NBS said Thursday. 

The PPI's decrease was 0.6 percentage point higher from the 0.8-percent contraction registered in January. 

China's consumer inflation slows in February, producer prices drop

On a monthly basis, China's PPI remained flat in February, according to the bureau.

"As industrial enterprises' production recovery accelerated and market demand improved last month, the PPI remained flat month on month," said Dong.

"But owing to the high comparison base from the same period last year, the year-on-year decline continued."

(With input from Xinhua)

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