China April CPI Rises 1.2% as Food Prices Continue to Fall

China's consumer inflation rose 1.2% year-on-year in April, driven by higher services and non-food prices, while continued declines in food costs kept overall price growth contained, official data showed.

The consumer price index (CPI) increased 0.3% month-on-month in April. For the January–April period, CPI averaged a 0.9% rise from a year earlier.

Urban CPI rose 1.2% year-on-year in April, compared with a 1.0% increase in rural areas. On a monthly basis, urban prices rose 0.3% and rural prices gained 0.1%.

Food prices fell 1.6% from a year earlier, while non-food prices rose 1.8%. Consumer goods prices increased 1.4%, and services prices rose 0.9%.

Food, tobacco and alcohol, as well as catering services, declined 0.8% year-on-year, reducing CPI by about 0.24 percentage points.

Within food items, pork prices dropped 15.2%, weighing on CPI by around 0.29 percentage points. Livestock meat prices fell 6.7%, while fresh fruit and fresh vegetable prices declined 1.0% and 0.5% respectively. Aquatic products rose 1.3%.

Among other major categories, prices rose across most sectors, led by other goods and services, which jumped 11.0%. Transport and communication increased 4.6%, and healthcare rose 2.2%. Clothing, household goods and services, and education, culture and entertainment rose between 1.3% and 1.5%. Residential prices edged down 0.2%.

On a month-on-month basis, food, tobacco and alcohol, and catering services fell 1.0%, driven by seasonal declines in fresh vegetables, which dropped 6.4%, and pork, which fell 5.7%. Fresh fruit declined 2.3% and aquatic products 1.2%, while egg prices rose 2.7%.

Monthly gains were seen in transport and communication, up 3.5%, followed by education, culture and entertainment, up 0.5%, and healthcare, up 0.3%. Household goods and services were unchanged, while other goods and services, clothing, and housing recorded slight declines.