The overall monthly figure exceeded the 4.9 percent forecast by analysts in a Bloomberg survey and is the highest since October 2011.
People Bank of China. (Photo: iStock)
China consumer prices rose at their highest rate in more than eight years last month, with prices of pork and fresh vegetables pushing up costs due to outbreak of the deadly coronavirus and stronger demand over the Lunar New Year period, official data released on Monday stated.
The consumer price index (CPI) jumped 5.4 percent last month on-year, up from 4.5 percent in December, data from the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) showed. Food prices spiked 20.6 percent.
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The overall monthly figure exceeded the 4.9 percent forecast by analysts in a Bloomberg survey and is the highest since October 2011.
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“The year-on-year increase has been affected not only by Spring Festival-related factors but… by the new coronavirus as well,” said the National Bureau of Statistics on Monday.
Within the CPI, pork prices rose 116 percent from a year ago, up from the 97 percent rise in December. The on-month rise for pork was 8.5 percent.
The rise of CPI is mainly because of the Lunar New Year holiday and the impact of the virus China’s struggle is expected to continue and prices may stay higher than usual because of supply chain disruptions.
“Some food supplies may spoil before shipping to large cities due to the disruption of transportation and other lockdown measures, especially for fruits, vegetables and livestock,” said Lu Ting of Nomura in a research note.
“People also tend to hoard food and other supplies in this kind of situation. The hoarding will most likely push up prices.” The virus has so far claimed more than 900 lives in China.
The rise in January was the highest since October 2011 when CPI inflation was 5.5 percent, UOB’s head of research Suan Teck Kin told AFP.
The producer price index, an important barometer of the industrial sector that measures the cost of goods at the factory gate, rose 0.1 percent in January.
It had fallen 0.5 percent in December.
(With input from agencies)
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