China’s consumer inflation slips amid easing pork prices

Consumer inflation saw a slight drop in August, dragged down by moderating food prices, while the contraction of factory-gate prices eased as the world’s second-biggest economy continued to recover post-epidemic, official data showed Wednesday, reported Caixin.

The consumer price index (CPI), which measures changes in prices of a basket of consumer goods and services, rose 2.4% year-on-year last month, down from a 2.7% increase in July and marking the first monthly deceleration since May, data from the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) showed.

Food prices rising at a slower pace contributed to the CPI deceleration, as supply disruptions caused by unfavorable weather conditions and Covid-19 flare-ups started to ease, HSBC Global Research economist Chen Jingyang wrote in a note.

Pork prices remained the major driver of CPI growth, surging 52.6% year-on-year last month, accounting for 1.74 percentage points of the overall increase in the CPI. However, the reading was down from 85.7% growth in July, marking a 12-month low, as China continues to recover from the deadly African swine fever outbreak that decimated production.