According to analysts polled by Trading Economics, in 2020, China’s consumer inflation totaled 2.5%. At the same time, producer prices dropped by 1.8%.

The data provided by the National Bureau of Statistics of China (NBS), revealed that in December 2020, the consumer price index advanced by 0.2% on a yearly basis. Trading Economics emphasizes that economists expected a rise of 0.2%.

The study showed that in the previous month, food prices rose by 1.2% while the price of pork declined by 1.3%. At the same time, prices of non-food products and services remained the same for the second month in a row. In December 2020, analysts recorded a slide in prices of clothes (0.1%), transport (3.1%), and utilities (0.6%).

Last month, China’s consumer price index inched up by 0.7% showing the highest reading since February 2020. At the same time, the producer price index slid in the given period. The indicator had been decreasing for 11 months in a row. However, the pace of the drop was really small. Thus, in December, China’s producer prices declined by 0.4% year over year. However, economists had anticipated a drop of 0.8%.

Compared to November 2020, China’s PPI increased by 1.1%. Dong Lijun, an economist with the statistics bureau, explains the indicator’s advance by the recovery in domestic demand and a surge in prices of consumer goods.