The Beijing Municipal Bureau of Statistics reported that in July 2026, the city's Consumer Price Index (CPI) shifted from a monthly decline to an increase, while the year-on-year growth rate moderated.

On a month-on-month basis, CPI rose 0.2%, reversing a 0.4% drop in the previous month. Food prices declined 0.6%, narrowing the drop by 0.6 percentage points from June. Seasonal fruits saw ample supply, driving down fresh fruit prices by 4.0%. Egg prices fell 1.7% due to sufficient supply. Pork prices experienced an initial rise and later decline, with a full-month increase of 5.1%, influenced by short-term adjustments in hog slaughter volumes. Increased rainfall in some major producing regions led to a 0.9% rise in fresh vegetable prices. Non-food prices turned from a 0.3% decline in June to a 0.4% increase. Within non-food items, industrial consumer goods prices dropped 0.7%, with volatile international gold and crude oil prices pushing down gold jewelry and gasoline prices by 1.8% and 10.6%, respectively, jointly dragging CPI down by about 0.22 percentage points. Service prices rose 0.8%, driven by a summer tourist surge and higher demand for travel-related services, lifting transportation equipment rental and airfare prices by 14.3% and 2.9%, while hotel accommodation and tour agency fees increased by 6.4% and 1.9%.

Year-on-year, CPI rose 0.2%, a 0.5 percentage point slowdown from the previous month. Food prices fell 2.6%, reducing CPI by about 0.33 percentage points. Pork, fresh fruit, and fresh vegetable prices dropped 14.4%, 5.5%, and 3.9%, respectively, collectively lowering CPI by about 0.29 percentage points. Egg prices rose 15.6%, narrowing the gain by 1.3 percentage points from June, while beef, lamb, and poultry prices rose between 1.2% and 6.3%. Non-food prices increased 0.7%. Industrial consumer goods prices rose 1.1%, a 1.4 percentage point slowdown from the previous month, contributing 0.27 percentage points to CPI, with gold jewelry and gasoline prices rising 23.9% and 0.8%, respectively. Upstream raw material cost pressures and emerging industry demand drove data storage equipment and computer prices up by 26.5% and 18.7%. Service prices increased 0.7%, with airfare shifting from a 13.3% rise to a 15.4% decline due to high base effects from last year and recent fuel surcharge reductions, while tour agency fees rose 7.7%. Medical services, education, and housekeeping service prices rose between 0.8% and 6.1%.