Posted on 11 Apr 2025
China's Consumer Price Index (CPI) in March dropped by 0.1% compared with the same month last year and slid 0.4% from February, while the country's PPI fell by 2.5% from a year earlier and dipped by 0.4% on month, according to the data released by the country's National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) on Thursday morning.
The further decline in the country's CPI in March was mainly driven by the notable decreases in the prices of food and tourism, explained Dong Lijuan, a senior statistician with NBS.
Last month, China's food prices went down 1.4% from February, with the prices of fresh vegetables and pork falling 5.1% and 4.4% on month respectively, NBS data showed. "Fresh foods entered the market in large quantities last month as the weather turned warmer, so the food supply was ample," Dong noted.
Meanwhile, travel activity cooled in the traditional slack season in March, leading the prices of airfare and tourism to slip 11.5% and 5.9% on month respectively, according to NBS.
Nevertheless, the on-month decline in China's CPI was smaller than the average decrease for the same period over the past decade, and its on-year drop also narrowed last month, thanks to the central government's incentive policies to boost consumption, according to Dong.
Excluding food and energy, China's core inflation in March stayed flat on month and gained 0.5% on year in March after falling continuously in the past few months, NBS data showed.
On the other hand, China's PPI slid more rapidly in March mainly due to the weakening of global energy prices as well as the decline in domestic industrial demand, according to NBS.
For example, domestic prices for the oil and natural gas drilling industry in March dropped by 4.4% on month and 8.5% on year, dragged down by the softening prices of global crude oil prices, NBS data showed.
On the other hand, in North China, coal-fired power consumption for residential heating waned as local temperature rose, partly leading the country's prices for the coal mining and processing sector to drop 4.3% on month and slump 14.9% on year.
During January-March this year, China's CPI dipped 0.1% on year, while the PPI fell 2.3% compared with the same period last year, according to NBS statistics.
Source:Mysteel Global
