Data from the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) show that in August, affected by factors such as changes in international market prices and seasonal increases in food prices, the Consumer Price Index (CPI) shifted from a 0.1% MoM decline in the previous month to a 0.4% MoM increase, with the YoY growth rebounding to 0.8%. The core CPI, excluding food and energy prices, saw its YoY growth rebound to 1.0%. In August, influenced by the transmission of rising international commodity prices and increased demand in some industries driven by China's industrial transformation and upgrading, the Producer Price Index (PPI) shifted from a 0.7% MoM decline in the previous month to a 0.4% MoM increase, with the YoY growth widening to 3.8%.
In August 2026, the Consumer Price Index rose 0.8% YoY
In August 2026, the national Consumer Price Index rose 0.8% YoY. Specifically, urban areas rose 0.8% and rural areas rose 0.7%; food prices fell 1.4% and non-food prices rose 1.2%; consumer goods prices rose 0.8% and services prices rose 0.8%. On average for January-August, the national Consumer Price Index rose 0.9% compared with the same period last year.
In August, the national Consumer Price Index rose 0.4% MoM. Specifically, urban areas rose 0.4% and rural areas rose 0.4%; food prices rose 0.4% and non-food prices rose 0.3%; consumer goods prices rose 0.6% and services prices rose 0.1%.
I. YoY Changes in Prices of Various Goods and Services
In August, prices in the food, tobacco, alcohol, and dining-out category fell 0.7% YoY, contributing about 0.21 percentage points to the decline in the CPI (Consumer Price Index). Within food, livestock and meat prices fell 5.1%, contributing about 0.21 percentage points to the CPI decline, with pork prices falling 11.8%; fresh vegetable prices fell 2.8%, contributing about 0.05 percentage points to the CPI decline; dairy product prices fell 1.4%, contributing about 0.01 percentage points to the CPI decline; aquatic product prices fell 0.6%, contributing about 0.01 percentage points to the CPI decline; egg prices rose 15.0%, contributing about 0.07 percentage points to the CPI increase.
Among the other seven categories, six rose and one fell YoY. Specifically, prices of other goods and services, healthcare, and transportation and communication rose 7.3%, 2.7%, and 2.5%, respectively; prices of education, culture, and entertainment, clothing, and household goods and services rose 1.4%, 1.3%, and 0.7%, respectively; housing prices fell 0.3%.
II. MoM Changes in Prices of Various Goods and Services
In August, prices in the food, tobacco, alcohol, and dining-out category rose 0.3% MoM, contributing about 0.07 percentage points to the CPI increase. Among food items, fresh vegetable prices rose 5.5%, contributing about 0.09 percentage points to CPI growth; egg prices rose 2.0%, contributing about 0.01 percentage points to CPI growth; livestock and meat prices rose 0.9%, contributing about 0.03 percentage points to CPI growth, with pork prices up 1.3%; fresh fruit prices fell 2.5%, contributing about 0.05 percentage points to the CPI decline; aquatic product prices fell 0.9%, contributing about 0.02 percentage points to the CPI decline.
Prices of the other seven major categories were mixed on a MoM basis, with two up, three flat, and two down. Transportation and communication, and other goods and services prices rose 1.7% and 1.5%, respectively; housing, education, culture and recreation, and healthcare prices were all flat; household goods and services, and clothing prices fell 0.2% and 0.1%, respectively.
In August 2026, the Producer Price Index for industrial products rose 3.8% YoY and 0.4% MoM
In August 2026, the national Producer Price Index for industrial products rose 3.8% YoY and 0.4% MoM. The Purchasing Price Index for industrial producers rose 5.8% YoY and 0.3% MoM. On average for January-August, the Producer Price Index for industrial products rose 2.0% from the same period last year, and the Purchasing Price Index for industrial producers rose 3.2%.
I. YoY Changes in Industrial Producer Prices
In August, within the Producer Price Index for industrial products, prices of means of production rose 5.0% YoY, contributing about 3.92 percentage points to the overall increase in the Producer Price Index for industrial products. Among them, extractive industry prices rose 17.8%, raw material industry prices rose 6.7%, and processing industry prices rose 3.1%. Consumer goods prices fell 0.5%, contributing about 0.10 percentage points to the overall decline in the Producer Price Index for industrial products. Among them, food prices fell 2.3%, clothing prices fell 1.2%, general daily goods prices fell 0.8%, and durable consumer goods prices rose 1.2%.
Within the Purchasing Price Index for industrial producers, prices of non-ferrous metal materials and wires rose 19.8%, fuel and power prices rose 9.8%, chemical raw material prices rose 9.5%, textile raw material prices rose 3.8%, and ferrous metal material prices rose 0.3%; building materials and non-metallic product prices fell 3.2%, and agricultural by-product prices fell 0.5%.
II. MoM Changes in Industrial Producer Prices
In August, within the Producer Price Index for industrial products, prices of means of production rose 0.4% MoM, contributing about 0.32 percentage points to the overall increase in the Producer Price Index for industrial products. Among these, prices in the mining industry rose 2.7%, raw material industry prices rose 0.8%, and processing industry prices remained flat. Consumer goods prices rose 0.2%, boosting the overall producer price index for manufactured goods by about 0.04 percentage points. Within consumer goods, food and clothing prices both remained flat, prices of general daily necessities fell 0.2%, and durable consumer goods prices rose 0.6%.
In terms of producer purchase prices, fuel and power prices rose 1.4%, nonferrous metal materials and wires prices rose 0.8%, and textile raw material prices rose 0.6%; ferrous metal material prices fell 0.6%, and chemical raw material prices fell 0.4%; agricultural by-products and building materials and non-metallic products prices both remained flat.
CPI Rebounded Mildly in August 2026, PPI YoY Growth Widened
—Dong Lijuan, Chief Statistician of the Urban Division of the National Bureau of Statistics, Interprets the August 2026 CPI and PPI Data
In August, affected by factors such as changes in international market prices and seasonal increases in food prices, the Consumer Price Index (CPI) shifted from a 0.1% MoM decline in the previous month to a 0.4% increase, with the YoY growth rebounding to 0.8%; the core CPI excluding food and energy prices saw its YoY growth rebound to 1.0%. Affected by factors such as the transmission of rising international commodity prices and increased demand in some industries driven by domestic industrial transformation and upgrading, the Producer Price Index (PPI) shifted from a 0.7% MoM decline in the previous month to a 0.4% increase, with the YoY growth widening to 3.8%.
I. CPI Shifted from Decline to Increase MoM, with a Mild YoY Rebound
On a MoM basis, the national CPI shifted from a 0.1% decline in the previous month to a 0.4% increase. Affected by changes in international market prices, domestic gasoline prices shifted from a 10.7% decline in the previous month to a 7.2% increase, boosting the MoM CPI by about 0.21 percentage points; gold jewelry prices shifted from a 2.6% decline in the previous month to a 7.6% increase, boosting the MoM CPI by about 0.04 percentage points. Affected by factors such as the rapid growth in computing power demand, prices of mobile phones, tablet computers, and data storage devices rose 2.3%, 2.1%, and 2.1%, respectively, collectively boosting the CPI by about 0.03 percentage points. Food prices shifted from remaining flat in the previous month to a 0.4% increase, boosting the MoM CPI by about 0.07 percentage points. Within food, affected by high temperatures and heavy rainfall as well as the rotation of seasonal vegetables, fresh vegetable prices rose 5.5%, with the increase widening by 4.2 percentage points from the previous month; affected by factors such as summer heat dormancy of laying hens and reduced hog slaughter, egg prices shifted from a 2.1% decline in the previous month to a 2.4% increase, and pork prices rose 1.3%; the above three items collectively boosted the MoM CPI by about 0.12 percentage points. With ample supply of seasonal fruits, fresh fruit prices fell 2.5%. As the summer fishing moratorium ended in some waters, supply increased and aquatic product prices dropped 0.9%. Together, these two factors contributed to a roughly 0.07 percentage point decline in CPI MoM. Service prices rose 0.1%, with the pace of increase pulling back 0.3 percentage points from the previous month, contributing about 0.04 percentage points to the MoM rise in CPI. Within services, travel-related service prices continued to rise during the summer holiday period, with vehicle rental, airfare, and hotel accommodation prices up 3.3%, 3.0%, and 1.0%, respectively.
On a YoY basis, national CPI rose 0.8%, with the pace of increase widening 0.3 percentage points from the previous month, mainly due to the larger increase in energy prices. Energy price growth widened from 0.6% last month to 4.1% this month, contributing about 0.28 percentage points to the YoY rise in CPI, with the upward pull on CPI about 0.24 percentage points larger than the previous month. Within this, gasoline prices rose 9.3%, with the pace of increase widening 8.3 percentage points. Prices of industrial consumer goods excluding energy rose 1.8%, with the pace of increase widening 0.3 percentage points, contributing about 0.42 percentage points to the YoY rise in CPI. Within this, gold jewelry prices rose 33.6%, with the pace of increase widening 9.0 percentage points; tablet computer, computer, and mobile phone prices rose 21.5%, 19.6%, and 11.0%, respectively, all with wider increases. Service prices rose 0.8%, with the pace of increase widening 0.1 percentage points from the previous month, contributing about 0.38 percentage points to the YoY rise in CPI. Within services, travel service prices rose 1.3%, with the pace of increase widening 1.2 percentage points; medical service prices rose 4.0%, with the pace of increase pulling back 0.3 percentage points. Food prices fell 1.4%, with the decline narrowing 0.1 percentage points from the previous month, contributing about 0.24 percentage points to the YoY decline in CPI. Within food, pork prices fell 11.8%, with the decline narrowing 1.5 percentage points, contributing about 0.22 percentage points to the YoY decline in CPI; fresh vegetable, fresh fruit, grain, edible oil, aquatic product, and dairy product prices fell between 0.5% and 2.8%, together contributing about 0.10 percentage points to the YoY decline in CPI; egg prices rose 18.5%, with the pace of increase widening 0.7 percentage points, contributing about 0.07 percentage points to the YoY rise in CPI; mutton, beef, and poultry meat prices rose between 1.1% and 6.3%, together contributing about 0.07 percentage points to the YoY rise in CPI.
2. PPI turned from a MoM decline to an increase, with the YoY increase widening
On a MoM basis, national PPI shifted from a 0.7% decline last month to a 0.4% increase. The main features of this month's MoM PPI movement: First, imported factors drove price increases in related domestic industries. Rising international crude oil and nonferrous metals prices drove up prices in related domestic industries. Specifically, prices in petroleum extraction, refined petroleum product manufacturing, and organic chemical raw material manufacturing rose 10.4%, 4.1%, and 0.9%, respectively, while prices in nonferrous metals smelting and rolling processing rose 0.8%. Together, these four industries contributed about 0.31 percentage points to the MoM increase in PPI. Second, industrial transformation and upgrading drove demand growth and price increases in some industries. As new momentum accelerated, the "intelligent" and "green" content of industrial development continued to rise. Prices in electronic circuit manufacturing rose 3.5%, virtual reality equipment manufacturing rose 1.9%, and service consumer robot manufacturing rose 0.3%; prices in biomass fuel processing and comprehensive utilization of waste resources both rose 0.3%. Third, price trends in some industries showed seasonal characteristics. In August, seasonal increases in electricity and coal demand drove coal mining and washing prices up 2.8% and electricity supply prices up 1.4%. High temperatures and rainy weather affected construction projects, with prices in ferrous metals smelting and rolling processing and nonmetallic mineral products falling 0.9% and 0.2%, respectively.
On a YoY basis, national PPI rose 3.8%, with the increase expanding 0.3 percentage points from the previous month. By major industry, among industries with rising prices, coal mining and washing rose 26.6%, nonferrous metals smelting and rolling processing rose 20.8%, oil and natural gas extraction, petroleum, coal and other fuel processing, and chemical raw materials and chemical products manufacturing rose 10.5%, 11.1%, and 9.1%, respectively, electrical machinery and equipment manufacturing rose 5.9%, and computer, communications and other electronic equipment manufacturing rose 5.3%. Together, these seven industries contributed about 4.24 percentage points to the YoY increase in PPI, with the upward pull increasing 0.37 percentage points from the previous month. The six industries with the largest downward pull on prices were: electricity and heat production and supply, automobile manufacturing, nonmetallic mineral products, pharmaceutical manufacturing, wine, beverages and refined tea manufacturing, and agricultural and sideline food processing, with declines ranging from 1.7% to 5.3%, together contributing about 0.74 percentage points to the YoY decline in PPI.
