China's consumer and producer prices accelerate in August

China's consumer market remained generally stable in August, with the consumer price index (CPI) rising 0.8% year on year, according to data released by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) on Wednesday.

On a monthly basis, the CPI increased 0.4%, reversing a 0.1% decline in July.

Core CPI, which excludes food and energy prices, rose 1.0% year on year, 0.1 percentage point higher than in July.

Dong Lijuan, chief statistician at the NBS, said changes in international market prices and seasonal increases in food prices mainly drove the increase in consumer prices.

Meanwhile, China's producer price index (PPI), which measures prices at the factory gate, rose 3.8% year on year in August, accelerating from a 3.5% increase in July.

The PPI also increased 0.4% month on month, reversing a 0.7% decline in July.

The purchase price index for industrial producers rose 5.8% year on year and 0.3% month on month in August.

Dong attributed the monthly PPI increase to higher international commodity prices and stronger demand in some sectors as China continues to upgrade and transform its industrial sector.

During the first eight months of 2026, China's CPI rose an average of 0.9% from a year earlier. Over the same period, the PPI increased 2.0%, while the purchase price index for industrial producers rose 3.2%.