China’s consumer inflation remained moderate last month, data released on Thursday showed, while producer prices remained in deflation.
The consumer price index (CPI) rose by 1.8 per cent in December from a year earlier, up from 1.6 per cent growth in November, according to the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS).
This was below expectations, with CPI having been expected to rise by 1.9 per cent last month, according to Chinese financial data provider Wind.
For the whole of 2022, consumer inflation in China stood at 2 per cent, below the official target of “around 3 per cent”
The producer price index (PPI), which reflects the prices that factories charge wholesalers for products, fell by 0.7 per cent in December, year on year, up from a fall of 1.3 per cent in November.
This was below expectations, with PPI having been expected to fall by 0.3 per cent last month, according to Wind.
For all of 2022, China’s CPI grew by 4.1 per cent, according to the NBS, up from a rise of 0.9 per cent per cent in 2021.
Chief NBS statistician Dong Lijuan said that authorities took measures last month to coordinate coronavirus prevention and economic development to ensure stable supply and prices.
Within the CPI, food prices in China rose by 4.8 per cent from a year earlier in December, compared to 3.7 per cent growth in November, while non-food prices rose by 1.1 per cent last month, year on year, unchanged from November.
Prices for pork, a staple on Chinese dinner tables, rose by 22.2 per cent in December compared to a year earlier, while fruit prices rose by 11 per cent year on year and vegetable prices fell by 8 per cent, SCMP cited.
China’s core consumer inflation rate, excluding the volatile prices of food and energy, rose by 0.7 per cent in December compared with a year earlier, up from 0.6 per cent in November.
