National Bureau of Statistics: CPI moderately rebounded in August 2026, PPI year-on-year increase expanded.

On September 9, Dong Lijuan, chief statistician of the Urban Division of the National Bureau of Statistics, interpreted the CPI and PPI data for August 2026. In August, influenced by fluctuations in international market prices and seasonal increases in food prices, the Consumer Price Index (CPI) turned from a 0.1% decrease in the previous month to a 0.4% increase month-on-month, with the year-on-year increase rebounding to 0.8%. The core CPI, excluding food and energy prices, saw a year-on-year increase of 1.0%. Affected by the upward transmission of international commodity prices and increased demand in certain industries driven by domestic industrial transformation and upgrading, the Producer Price Index (PPI) turned from a 0.7% decrease month-on-month in the previous month to a 0.4% increase, with the year-on-year increase expanding to 3.8%. Original text: Moderate Rebound in CPI and Expanded Year-on-Year Increase in PPI for August 2026 Interpretation of CPI and PPI data for August 2026 by Dong Lijuan, chief statistician of the Urban Division of the National Bureau of Statistics. In August, influenced by fluctuations in international market prices and seasonal increases in food prices, the Consumer Price Index (CPI) turned from a 0.1% decrease in the previous month to a 0.4% increase month-on-month, with the year-on-year increase rebounding to 0.8%; the core CPI, excluding food and energy prices, saw a year-on-year increase of 1.0%. Influenced by the upward transmission of international commodity prices and increased demand in certain industries driven by domestic industrial transformation and upgrading, the Producer Price Index (PPI) turned from a 0.7% decrease month-on-month in the previous month to a 0.4% increase, with the year-on-year increase expanding to 3.8%. 1. CPI Turns from Decrease to Increase Month-on-Month; Year-on-Year Shows Moderate Rebound From a month-on-month perspective, the national CPI turned from a 0.1% decrease in the previous month to a 0.4% increase. Influenced by fluctuations in international market prices, domestic gasoline prices turned from a 10.7% decrease in the previous month to a 7.2% increase, contributing about 0.21 percentage points to the month-on-month increase of CPI; the price of gold jewelry turned from a 2.6% decrease in the previous month to a 7.6% increase, contributing about 0.04 percentage points. Driven by the rapid growth in computing power demand, prices for mobile phones, tablets, and data storage devices increased by 2.3%, 2.1%, and 2.1% respectively, collectively contributing about 0.03 percentage points to the CPI increase. Food prices shifted from flat to a 0.4% increase, contributing about 0.07 percentage points to the month-on-month increase of CPI. In the food category, influenced by high temperatures and heavy rain as well as seasonal vegetable turnovers, fresh vegetable prices increased by 5.5%, an increase of 4.2 percentage points compared to the previous month; affected by the summer resting period of laying hens and a decrease in live pig sales, egg prices turned from a 2.1% decrease in the previous month to a 2.4% increase, while pork prices rose by 1.3%; together, these three items contributed about 0.12 percentage points to the month-on-month increase of CPI. The supply of seasonal fruits was abundant, leading to a 2.5% decrease in fresh fruit prices; the end of the fishing moratorium in certain sea areas increased the supply, resulting in a 0.9% decrease in aquatic product prices; together, these two contributed about 0.07 percentage points to the month-on-month decrease of CPI. Service prices rose by 0.1%, a decrease of 0.3 percentage points from the previous month, contributing about 0.04 percentage points to the month-on-month increase of CPI. In services, travel service prices continued to rise during the summer vacation, with rental prices for transportation, plane tickets, and hotel accommodations increasing by 3.3%, 3.0%, and 1.0% respectively. From a year-on-year perspective, the national CPI increased by 0.8%, an increase of 0.3 percentage points compared to the previous month, mainly influenced by the widening increase in energy prices. The increase in energy prices expanded from 0.6% in the previous month to 4.1% this month, contributing about 0.28 percentage points to the year-on-year increase of CPI, with an increase of about 0.24 percentage points compared to the previous month. Among these, gasoline prices rose by 9.3%, with an increase of 8.3 percentage points. Excluding energy, the prices of industrial consumer goods increased by 1.8%, an increase of 0.3 percentage points, contributing about 0.42 percentage points to the year-on-year increase of CPI. Among these, prices for gold jewelry rose by 33.6%, an increase of 9.0 percentage points; prices for tablets, computers, and mobile phones increased by 21.5%, 19.6%, and 11.0%, respectively, all showing expanded increases. Service prices rose by 0.8%, an increase of 0.1 percentage points compared to the previous month, contributing about 0.38 percentage points to the year-on-year increase of CPI. In services, travel service prices rose by 1.3%, an increase of 1.2 percentage points; medical service prices increased by 4.0%, a decrease of 0.3 percentage points. Food prices decreased by 1.4%, a narrowing of 0.1 percentage points compared to the previous month, contributing about 0.24 percentage points to the year-on-year decrease of CPI. In food, pork prices decreased by 11.8%, a narrowing of 1.5 percentage points, contributing about 0.22 percentage points to the year-on-year decrease of CPI; fresh vegetables, fresh fruit, grains, cooking oil, aquatic products, and dairy prices experienced decreases between 0.5% and 2.8%, collectively contributing about 0.10 percentage points to the year-on-year decrease of CPI; egg prices rose by 18.5%, an increase of 0.7 percentage points, contributing about 0.07 percentage points to the year-on-year increase of CPI; the price increases for lamb, beef, and poultry range from 1.1% to 6.3%, collectively contributing about 0.07 percentage points to the year-on-year increase of CPI. 2. PPI Turns from Decrease to Increase Month-on-Month; Year-on-Year Increase Expands From a month-on-month perspective, the national PPI turned from a 0.7% decrease in the previous month to a 0.4% increase. The main characteristics of the month-on-month PPI in this month are as follows: First, external factors influenced price increases in related domestic industries. The rise in international crude oil and non-ferrous metal prices drove price increases in related domestic industries, where prices in petroleum extraction, refined petroleum product manufacturing, and organic chemical raw material manufacturing increased by 10.4%, 4.1%, and 0.9% respectively; prices in the non-ferrous metal smelting and rolling processing industry increased by 0.8%. Together, these four industries contributed about 0.31 percentage points to the month-on-month increase in PPI. Second, industrial transformation and upgrading drove increased demand and price rises in certain industries. New growth drivers are being rapidly cultivated, and the industrial development continues to enhance its "intelligent" and "green" quality; prices in electronic circuit manufacturing rose by 3.5%, prices in virtual reality device manufacturing rose by 1.9%, and prices in service consumption for Siasun Robot & Automation manufacturing rose by 0.3%; the prices of biomass fuel processing and comprehensive utilization of waste resources also rose by 0.3%. Third, the price trends in some industries displayed seasonal characteristics. In August, the seasonal increase in demand for electricity and coal drove prices in coal mining and washing industries up by 2.8%, while electric supply prices rose by 1.4%; high-temperature and rainy weather affected construction projects, causing prices in the ferrous metal smelting and rolling processing industry and non-metal mineral products industry to decrease by 0.9% and 0.2% respectively. From a year-on-year perspective, the national PPI rose by 3.8%, an increase of 0.3 percentage points compared to the previous month. By major industry, among the industries with price increases, coal mining and washing industry rose by 26.6%, non-ferrous metal smelting and rolling processing industry rose by 20.8%, while the petroleum and natural gas extraction industry, petroleum, coal, and other fuel processing industries, and chemical raw materials and chemical products manufacturing industries rose by 10.5%, 11.1%, and 9.1% respectively; the electrical machinery and equipment manufacturing industry rose by 5.9%, and the computer, communication, and other electronic equipment manufacturing industry rose by 5.3%. Together, these seven industries contributed approximately 4.24 percentage points to the year-on-year increase in PPI, with the upward impact increasing by about 0.37 percentage points compared to the previous month. The six industries with the largest downward pressure on prices were: electric and thermal power production and supply industry, automobile manufacturing industry, non-metal mineral products industry, pharmaceutical manufacturing industry, beverage and refined tea manufacturing industry, and agro-food processing industry, with decreases ranging from 1.7% to 5.3%, collectively contributing about 0.74 percentage points to the year-on-year decrease in PPI. This article is compiled from the National Bureau of Statistics, GMTEight Editor: Chen Wenfang.