China consumer price inflation rises less than expected in January

(Sharecast News) - China's consumer price inflation rose less than expected in January, according to figures released on Wednesday by the National Bureau of Statistics. The consumer price index increased 0.2% on the year following a 0.8% jump in December, coming in below a forecast of 0.4%.

Food prices fell 0.7% on the year, down from 1.1% growth in December. Non-food inflation also slowed, down to 0.4% growth on the year in January from 0.8% a month earlier.

On the month, consumer prices were up 0.2%, versus expectations for a 0.3% rise.

Core CPI - which excludes food and energy - rose 0.8% on the year, down from 1.2% growth in December.

ING said the decline in food prices was well expected, as the Lunar New Year fell in late January for 2025, while it is mid-February for 2026.

"Overall, CPI inflation continued to rise at a decent 0.2% month-on-month pace, suggesting that overall we are still on track to see a general recovery of inflation in 2026 for now," said Lynn Song, chief economist for Greater China. "We hold our full year CPI inflation forecast at 0.9% YoY, with the key risks to the forecast being how policy rolls out domestically, and international price developments."