China's October Consumer Price Index Falls Below 1% for the First Time in Over 3 Years

Food Prices Including Pork Decline
Producer Price Index Negative for 9 Consecutive Months

[Asia Economy Beijing=Special Correspondent Jo Young-shin] China's consumer price index (CPI) inflation rate fell below 1% for the first time in over three years last month.

China's National Bureau of Statistics announced on the 10th that the October consumer price index rose 0.5% year-on-year. This is the first time China's CPI inflation rate has dropped below 1% since it recorded 0.9% in March 2017.

This year, China's CPI inflation rate surged to 5.4% in January due to disruptions in food supply caused by the novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19), but has since shown a downward trend, recording 1.7% in September.

Last month, food prices, including pork, fell by 1.8%, leading the low inflation rate.

Pork prices had been soaring due to supply shortages caused by African swine fever, but last month, influenced by increased imports and other factors, prices fell 2.8%, marking the first decline since February 2019.

Additionally, the base effect from last October's sharp 3.8% rise in CPI also had an impact.

Meanwhile, China's producer price index (PPI) for October fell 2.1% year-on-year, continuing a nine-month streak of negative growth.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.