China's PPI down 2.5 pct in January

BEIJING, Feb. 8 (Xinhua) -- China's producer price index (PPI), which measures costs of goods at the factory gate, fell 2.5 percent year on year in January 2024, the National Bureau of Statistics said Thursday.

The decrease narrowed from a 2.7-percent decline in December. On a monthly basis, the January PPI edged down 0.2 percent, the data showed.

"Due to factors such as fluctuations in the international commodity prices and some domestic industries entering the off-season, the PPI declined in January. However, both year-on-year and month-on-month declines reduced," said NBS statistician Dong Lijuan.

Prices of means of production fell 0.2 percent month on month, contributing 0.17 percentage points to the overall decline in monthly PPI for January, NBS data showed.

Among the major industries, the PPI of the oil and gas extraction industry fell 0.8 percent month on month, while the petroleum, coal and other fuel processing sector fell 1.7 percent from the previous month.

The PPI of coal mining and washing industry edged up 0.1 percent month on month due to increased heating demand in some regions.

China's consumer price index, a main gauge of inflation, edged up 0.3 percent month on month in January 2024, NBS data showed.