China October CPI rises 0.7 per cent year-on-year, PPI up 5.7 per cent
China's October CPI rose 0.7 per cent year-on-year, below expectations and a three-month low. The PPI surged 5.7 per cent, a near four-and-a-half-year high, driven by energy costs and AI-related demand for materials, according to the National Bureau of Statistics.
China's consumer price index (CPI) rose 0.7 per cent in October from a year earlier, the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) said on 9 November. The increase was 0.2 percentage points lower than in September and below market expectations, marking a three-month low.
Food prices fell 2.9 per cent year-on-year, widening a decline of 1.2 percentage points from the previous month. Energy prices jumped 9.9 per cent, accelerating 2.6 percentage points, driven by a more than 22 per cent surge in petrol prices from a year earlier.
The core CPI, which excludes food and energy, rose 0.8 per cent year-on-year, slowing 0.2 percentage points from September and recording the slowest pace in nine months. On a monthly basis, the CPI was flat in October. Food prices fell 1 per cent, with eggs and fresh vegetables dropping nearly 6 per cent or more. Petrol price growth moderated to 4.2 per cent, affected by international market changes, while service prices edged up slightly.
The producer price index (PPI), which reflects upstream production costs, rose 5.7 per cent year-on-year in October, 0.7 percentage points faster than in September and above market expectations. This was the largest increase in nearly four and a half years. Month-on-month, the PPI growth slowed to 0.7 per cent.
The NBS said imported and seasonal factors drove price increases in major energy-related industries. The rapid development of artificial intelligence (AI) contributed to higher prices for some raw materials and equipment manufacturing sectors, while orderly capacity adjustments in some industries improved supply and demand. The consumer goods market remained well supplied with stable demand.