China consumer price index drops

By Ouyang Shijia | chinadaily.com.cn | Updated: 2023-08-09 09:36

Shoppers buy fruit at a supermarket in Shijiazhuang, Hebei province. [Photo by Jia Minjie/For China Daily]

China's consumer prices fell in July for the first time since February 2021, while factory-gate prices declined at a slower pace, official data showed on Wednesday.

China's consumer price index, a main gauge of inflation, dropped 0.3 percent year-on-year in July after a flat reading in June, according to data from the National Bureau of Statistics.

Food prices dipped 1.7 percent in July compared with a year ago, down from a 2.3 percent rise in June. Pork, a staple in Chinese cuisine, saw prices down by 26 percent in July after a 7.2 percent decline in June.

Meanwhile, the price of fresh vegetables declined 1.5 percent in July following a 10.8 percent growth in June. And the prices for industrial consumer products dipped 1.9 percent after a 2.7 percent decline in June.

On a month-on-month basis, July's CPI surged 0.2 percent, up from a 0.2 percent decline in June.

The growth in core CPI, which excludes volatile food and energy prices and is deemed a better gauge of the supply-demand relationship in the economy, rose by 0.8 percent year-on-year in July, up from a 0.4 percent rise in June.

Dong Lijuan, an NBS statistician, said the CPI dropped year-on-year due to a high comparison base in the previous year.

"The decline in consumer prices is temporary," Dong said in a statement published on NBS's official website on Wednesday. "In the next phase, CPI will likely gradually rise with the gradual economic recovery, steady rebound in market demand, the continued improvement in the supply-demand situation as well as the fading base effects."

Meanwhile, Dong said factory-gate prices fell at a slower pace due to factors including sufficient supply in the domestic market and improved demand in some sectors.

The producer price index, which gauges factory-gate prices, was down 4.4 percent from a year earlier in July after the 5.4 percent annual contraction seen in June, the NBS said.

On a month-on-month basis, PPI dipped 0.2 percent in July after a 0.8 percent decline in June, according to the NBS.