The National Bureau of Statistics has released its analysis of August 2026 consumer and producer price trends, highlighting a modest recovery in the Consumer Price Index (CPI) and an expanding annual growth rate for the Producer Price Index (PPI). The report attributes these movements to a combination of international market fluctuations and seasonal domestic factors.
Turning to month-on-month changes, the national CPI shifted from a 0.1% decline in July to a 0.4% increase in August. Domestic gasoline prices reversed from a 10.7% drop to a 7.2% rise, contributing approximately 0.21 percentage points to the monthly uptick, while gold jewelry prices rebounded from a 2.6% decrease to a 7.6% surge, adding 0.04 percentage points. Technology-related items also played a role, with mobile phones, tablets, and data storage devices rising 2.3%, 2.1%, and 2.1% respectively, together contributing 0.03 percentage points to the CPI increase.
Food prices turned upward by 0.4% in August after remaining flat in July, contributing 0.07 percentage points to the monthly headline figure. Fresh vegetable prices climbed 5.5% due to hot, rainy weather and seasonal crop transitions, widening the increase by 4.2 percentage points from the previous month. Egg prices reversed from a 2.1% decline to a 2.4% rise, and pork prices increased 1.3%, collectively adding 0.12 percentage points. Offsetting these gains, fresh fruit prices fell 2.5% due to ample seasonal supply, and aquatic product prices declined 0.9% as fishing moratoriums ended in some regions, together subtracting 0.07 percentage points. Service prices rose 0.1%, moderating the monthly contribution to 0.04 percentage points, with transport rental, airfares, and hotel accommodation increasing 3.3%, 3.0%, and 1.0% respectively during the summer holiday period.
On an annual basis, the national CPI rose 0.8%, expanding 0.3 percentage points from July, driven primarily by widening energy price gains. Energy prices accelerated from 0.6% to 4.1% year-on-year, contributing 0.28 percentage points to the headline increase, an additional 0.24 percentage points versus last month. Gasoline prices surged 9.3%, with the expansion widening by 8.3 percentage points. Excluding energy, industrial consumer goods rose 1.8%, led by gold jewelry climbing 33.6%, tablets up 21.5%, computers up 19.6%, and mobile phones up 11.0%. Service prices increased 0.8%, with transportation services jumping 1.3% while medical services rose 4.0%. Food prices declined 1.4%, with pork falling 11.8% although at a narrowing pace, while egg prices surged 18.5% and meat prices for lamb, beef, and poultry rose between 1.1% and 6.3%.
The PPI also shifted from a monthly decline of 0.7% to a rise of 0.4%, reflecting several distinct drivers. Imported cost pressures were prominent, with international crude oil and non-ferrous metal price gains lifting domestic sectors. Oil extraction jumped 10.4%, refined petroleum products rose 4.1%, organic chemical raw materials gained 0.9%, and non-ferrous metal smelting and processing increased 0.8%, with these four industries collectively adding 0.31 percentage points to monthly PPI growth.
Industrial upgrading and digitalization contributed to stronger demand in emerging sectors. Electronic circuit manufacturing prices increased 3.5%, virtual reality equipment manufacturing rose 1.9%, and service robot manufacturing gained 0.3%, while biomass fuel processing and waste resource utilization each advanced 0.3%. Seasonal factors saw coal mining and washing prices up 2.8% and electricity supply prices up 1.4% amid higher summer power demand, whereas hot and rainy weather slowed construction, pulling down ferrous metal smelting and non-metallic mineral products by 0.9% and 0.2% respectively.
Year-on-year, the PPI climbed 3.8%, expanding 0.3 percentage points from July. Leading the increases were coal mining and washing up 26.6%, non-ferrous metal smelting up 20.8%, oil and gas extraction up 10.5%, petroleum and coal fuel processing up 11.1%, chemical materials up 9.1%, electrical machinery up 5.9%, and computer and electronic equipment up 5.3%, with these seven industries contributing a combined 4.24 percentage points. The largest downward pressures came from six sectors including electricity and heat production, automobile manufacturing, non-metallic mineral products, pharmaceuticals, beverages and refined tea, and agricultural food processing, with declines ranging from 1.7% to 5.3% and collectively reducing the annual PPI by 0.74 percentage points.