BEIJING, 9th March, 2025 (WAM) -- The decline in China's consumer prices in February was mainly driven by the effects of the Spring Festival holiday and fluctuations in global commodity prices, the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) said on Sunday.
China's consumer price index (CPI), a main gauge of inflation, was down 0.7%t year-on-year in February, according to the NBS.
The prices in urban areas and rural areas both decreased by 0.7% from one year earlier, the NBS data showed.
In breakdown, food prices declined 3.3% year-on-year, non-food prices edged down 0.1% year-on-year, consumer goods prices decreased 0.9% year-on-year and service prices slipped 0.4% year-on-year last month.
From January to February, on average, the national consumer price decreased 0.1% over the same period last year. On a monthly basis, the CPI dropped 0.2% in February, the NBS data showed.
Xinhua quoted NBS statistician Dong Lijuan as saying that the year-on-year CPI decline in February was primarily due to a higher base in the same month last year. Last February, food and service prices increased significantly during the traditional Spring Festival holiday, creating a high base effect that contributed to this year's decline.
The Spring Festival follows the traditional lunar calendar, causing it to fall on different dates around late January or early February each year. In 2024, the festival fell in February, driving up food and service prices; in contrast, the festival fell in January this year.