China consumer inflation hit 11-year low in October, helped by plummeting pork price

China’s official consumer price index (CPI) rose just 0.5 per cent in October from a year earlier, down from 1.7 per cent in September

China’s producer price index (PPI) rose 2.1 per cent in October compared with a year earlier, unchanged from September

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China’s pork prices in October fell 2.8 per cent from a year ago, down significantly from September when pork prices rose 25.5 per cent, the first time the annual rate has turned negative in 19 months. Photo: Reuters

Published: 9:38am, 10 Nov 2020Updated: 10:19am, 9 Dec 2020

China’s consumer prices in October slowed to their lowest level in 11 years, data released on Tuesday showed.

China’s official consumer price index (CPI) rose just 0.5 per cent in October from a year earlier, down from 1.7 per cent in September, the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) said on Tuesday. This was below the median expectations in a Bloomberg survey of analysts for a rise of 0.8 per cent as it hit its lowest level since October 2009, when it was minus 0.5 per cent.

This drop was helped by China’s pork prices in October falling 2.8 per cent from a year ago, down significantly from September when pork prices rose 25.5 per cent, the first time the annual rate has turned negative in 19 months.

China’s producer price index (PPI), reflecting the prices that factories charge wholesalers for their products, rose 2.1 per cent in October compared with a year earlier, unchanged from September. This was above the median expectations in the Bloomberg survey of analysts for a drop of 1.9 per cent.

China’s core inflation rate, excluding food and energy, stood at 0.5 per cent in October, unchanged from September.

China set a CPI target of around 3.5 per cent for 2020, compared with 3.0 per cent last year.