Guangzhou (JLC), March 11, 2024 – China's consumer price index (CPI), a main gauge of inflation, rose 0.7% year on year in February 2024, data from the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) showed.
On a month-on-month comparison, the CPI gained 1.0% in February.
The upticks in CPI were partly due to the Spring Festival holiday, which fell in February this year, NBS spokesperson Dong Lijuan said. On a monthly basis, food prices went up 3.3% in February, becoming the main driver of the monthly growth.
The core CPI, which excludes food and energy prices, went up 1.2% year on year in February, Dong said, the highest year-on-year growth since February 2022.
Meanwhile, China's producer price index (PPI), which measures factory-gate goods prices, fell 2.7% year on year in February, the NBS data indicated.
On a month-on-month comparison, the PPI dropped 0.2% in February, the NBS data indicated.
The drops in PPI were largely due to factors including the Spring Festival holiday (which fell in February this year) and a traditional low season for industrial activities in the month of the Chinese New Year, the NBS spokesperson said.
