11.02.202601:33:01UTC+00China Producer Prices Fall the Least in 1-1/2 Years

China’s producer prices fell 1.4% year-on-year in January 2026, easing from a 1.9% decline in December and extending their downturn to a 40th consecutive month. The latest figure was slightly better than market expectations of a 1.5% drop and marked the mildest decline since July 2024, underscoring Beijing’s ongoing efforts to curb excessive price competition.

Prices for production materials decreased at a much slower pace (-1.3% vs -2.1% in December 2025). Within this category, declines moderated for raw materials (-2.0% vs -2.6%) and processed goods (-0.4% vs -1.6%), whereas prices in the mining sector fell more sharply (-8.1% vs -4.7%).

By contrast, consumer goods prices fell more quickly (-1.7% vs -1.3%), led by steeper declines in clothing (-0.7% vs -0.1%) and food (-1.9% vs -1.5%), while prices for durable consumer goods remained notably weak (-1.8% vs -3.5%). In addition, prices for daily-use goods dropped at a faster rate (-1.8% vs -1.4%).

On a monthly basis, the Producer Price Index (PPI) rose 0.4% in January, up from a 0.2% increase in December, registering the fastest month-on-month gain since September 2023.