China's PPI Falls 1.4% YoY in January 2026, Monthly Gains Accelerate

China's producer price index (PPI) declined 1.4% year-on-year in January 2026, narrowing the drop from December, while month-on-month growth accelerated, signaling tentative stabilization in industrial pricing.

China's industrial producer prices continued to contract in January 2026, though at a slower pace, while month-on-month increases gained momentum, according to the latest data.

In January, the Producer Price Index (PPI) fell 1.4% year-on-year, narrowing by 0.5 percentage points from the previous month. On a monthly basis, PPI rose 0.4%, up 0.2 percentage points from December.

Meanwhile, the purchase price index for industrial producers declined 1.4% year-on-year, with the decrease narrowing by 0.7 percentage points from the previous month. On a month-on-month basis, purchase prices increased 0.5%, an expansion of 0.1 percentage points.

Year-on-Year Performance of Industrial Producer Prices

Among factory-gate prices, prices of means of production dropped 1.3% year-on-year, dragging down the overall PPI by approximately 1.06 percentage points. Within this category, prices in the mining industry fell 8.1%, raw materials declined 2.0%, and processing industries edged down 0.4%.

Prices of consumer goods decreased 1.7% year-on-year, reducing the overall PPI by around 0.38 percentage points. Food prices fell 1.9%, clothing prices declined 0.7%, and prices of both daily-use goods and durable consumer goods dropped 1.8%.

In terms of purchase prices for industrial producers, fuel and power prices decreased 7.1% year-on-year, chemical raw materials fell 5.8%, building materials and non-metallic materials dropped 4.7%, while ferrous metal materials and agricultural by-products both declined 2.9%. Textile raw materials decreased 2.2%. In contrast, prices of non-ferrous metal materials and electric wires surged 16.1%.

Month-on-Month Changes in Industrial Producer Prices

On a monthly basis, prices of means of production rose 0.5% in January, contributing about 0.37 percentage points to the overall PPI increase. Within the segment, mining prices fell 1.7%, while raw materials rose 0.7% and processing industries gained 0.5%.

Consumer goods prices edged up 0.1% month-on-month, contributing approximately 0.01 percentage points to overall PPI growth. Food prices dipped 0.1%, clothing fell 0.3%, daily-use goods declined 0.1%, while durable consumer goods increased 0.3%.

Regarding industrial purchase prices, non-ferrous metal materials and electric wires rose 4.5% month-on-month, agricultural by-products increased 0.7%, and chemical raw materials edged up 0.1%. Fuel and power prices declined 0.7%, building materials and non-metallic materials fell 0.6%, while ferrous metal materials and textile raw materials remained unchanged.