China CPI rises 1.2% YoY, PPI up 2.8% in April 2026
In April 2026, China's Consumer Price Index (CPI) rose 1.2% year-on-year (YoY) and 0.3% month-on-month (MoM), while the Producer Price Index (PPI) increased 2.8% YoY and 1.7% MoM, according to data released by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS). The core CPI, excluding food and energy, also rose 1.2% YoY, indicating a moderate recovery in consumer prices. Both CPI and PPI readings showed accelerating momentum compared to the previous month.
CPI Drivers
On a monthly basis, CPI turned from a 0.7% decline in March to a 0.3% rise in April, 0.4 percentage points above the seasonal average. The turnaround was mainly driven by higher energy and travel service prices. Domestic energy prices surged 5.7% MoM, with gasoline up 12.6%, contributing 0.39 percentage points to the CPI monthly change. Service prices rebounded 0.5% MoM after a 1.1% drop in March. April holidays boosted travel demand: airfares jumped 29.2%, car rental 8.6%, travel agency fees 4.5%, and hotel accommodation 3.9%—together adding 0.17 percentage points. Medical service prices rose 0.6%. Food prices fell 1.6% MoM, a narrower decline than March's 2.7%, as fresh vegetables (-6.4%) and fruits (-2.3%) increased in supply. Pork (-5.7%) and aquatic products (-1.2%) also declined, while egg prices rose 3.4%.
Year-on-year, CPI inflation widened to 1.2% from 1.0% in March. Industrial consumer goods rose 3.5% YoY, led by gasoline (+19.3%, contributing 0.56 points) and gold jewelry (+46.9%, contributing 0.20 points). Household appliances (+2.6%) and clothing (+1.6%) added 0.11 points. Services rose 0.9% YoY, with medical services (+3.4%) and education (+0.5%) contributing 0.25 points, and travel services (+3.7%) adding 0.13 points. Food prices slipped 1.6% YoY, reversing March's 0.3% gain, as pork plunged 15.2% (impacting -0.29 points). Fresh vegetables (-0.5%) and fresh fruits (-1.0%) also fell, while beef, mutton, aquatic products, and eggs rose between 1.0% and 6.2%.
PPI Drivers
PPI monthly growth accelerated to 1.7% from 1.0% in March, driven by three factors. First, international oil prices pushed up domestic petroleum-related industries: oil and gas extraction (+18.5%), oil/coal processing (+16.4%), chemical raw materials (+8.3%), chemical fibers (+5.6%), and rubber/plastics (+1.7%). Second, rising domestic demand boosted sectors tied to computing and infrastructure: fiber optic manufacturing (+22.5%), external storage devices (+3.2%), non-ferrous metal smelting (+0.2%), coal mining (+1.9%), and ferrous metal smelting (+0.6%). Third, anti-"involutionary competition" policies narrowed price drops: lithium battery manufacturing rose 1.6%, while new energy vehicle manufacturing fell only 0.1% (narrower by 0.7 percentage points from March).
Year-on-year, PPI rose 2.8%, a sharp acceleration from 0.5% in March. Major upward contributors included non-ferrous metal mining (+38.9%) and smelting (+22.5%), together contributing 1.58 percentage points; oil and gas extraction (+28.6%), oil/coal processing (+14.2%), and chemicals (+8.9%) added 1.50 points; electrical machinery (+3.6%) and computer/electronics (+1.5%) added 0.46 points. Downward pressure came from non-metallic mineral products (-5.5%), power/heat supply (-4.2%), auto manufacturing (-2.0%), and ferrous metal smelting (-1.1%), which together subtracted 0.75 percentage points.
Source: National Bureau of Statistics of China. Original: https://www.stats.gov.cn/sj/sjjd/202605/t20260511_1963657.html