China’s consumer price index (CPI), a main gauge of inflation, edged down 0.3 percent year on year in December 2023, official data showed Friday.
The decline narrowed from a 0.5-percent year-on-year dip registered in November last year, according to the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS).
NBS statistician Dong Lijuan attributed the narrowing decline to the cold wave and stronger consumer demand ahead of the New Year holiday.
Food prices fell 3.7 percent year on year in December. The price of pork, a staple meat in China, dropped 26.1 percent from a year earlier, and dragged the CPI down by 0.43 percentage points.—APP
