Data released by China's National Bureau of Statistics shows that in February 2026, the country's Consumer Price Index (CPI) rose by 1.3% year-on-year, indicating a moderate recovery in consumer prices.
Detailed data shows that urban CPI increased by 1.4% year-on-year, while rural CPI rose by 0.9%; food prices increased by 1.7% year-on-year, and non-food prices rose by 1.3%; consumer goods prices increased by 1.1%, and service prices rose by 1.6%.
On a month-on-month basis, the CPI in February increased by 1.0% from the previous month, with food prices rising by 1.9% and non-food prices rising by 0.8%.
Food prices made a noticeable contribution to inflation, with fresh vegetable prices rising by 10.9% year-on-year, aquatic products by 6.1%, and fresh fruit by 5.9%. Meanwhile, pork prices decreased by 8.6% year-on-year, exerting some downward pressure on the CPI.
In terms of production prices, China's Producer Price Index (PPI) for industrial producers fell by 0.9% year-on-year in February, with the decline narrowing by 0.5 percentage points from January. The PPI increased by 0.4% month-on-month.
Additionally, the purchase price of industrial producers decreased by 0.7% year-on-year, with the decline narrowing by 0.7 percentage points from the previous month; it increased by 0.7% month-on-month.
Analysts believe that the narrowing decline in the PPI indicates some relief in price pressures in the industrial sector, but overall inflation remains in a moderate range.
