National Bureau of Statistics: CPI Slightly Decreased in May, Core CPI Year-on-Year Growth Expanded

The National Bureau of Statistics released the CPI and PPI data for May, and Chief Statistician Dong Lijuan from the urban division of the National Bureau of Statistics interpreted the data. The data shows that in May, the CPI slightly decreased, while the core CPI year-on-year increase expanded. In May, the Consumer Price Index (CPI) decreased by 0.2% month-on-month and 0.1% year-on-year. The core CPI, excluding food and energy prices, increased by 0.6% year-on-year, with the growth rate expanding by 0.1 percentage points compared to the previous month. China is boosting consumption with greater intensity and more precise measures, new quality productive forces are growing stronger, and the supply-demand relationship in some areas has improved, leading to positive price changes. The decrease in the CPI month-on-month was mainly influenced by the decrease in energy prices. Energy prices decreased by 1.7% month-on-month, resulting in a decrease of approximately 0.13 percentage points in the CPI month-on-month, accounting for nearly 70% of the total decrease in CPI. The year-on-year CPI slightly decreased, with the decrease being the same as the previous month. The National Bureau of Statistics' urban division chief statistician Dong Lijuan interprets the CPI and PPI data for May 2025 CPI slightly decreases in May 2025, while the core CPI year-on-year increase expands In May 2025, the Consumer Price Index (CPI) decreased by 0.2% month-on-month and 0.1% year-on-year, while the core CPI, excluding food and energy prices, increased by 0.6% year-on-year, with the growth rate expanding by 0.1 percentage points compared to the previous month. The Producer Price Index (PPI) decreased by 0.4% month-on-month, with the decrease being the same as the previous month, and decreased by 3.3% year-on-year, with the decrease expanding by 0.6 percentage points compared to the previous month. China is boosting consumption with greater intensity and more precise measures, new quality productive forces are growing stronger, some areas are experiencing improved supply-demand relationships, and prices are showing positive changes. 1. CPI slightly decreases, while the core CPI year-on-year increase expands The decrease in CPI month-on-month was mainly due to the impact of the decrease in energy prices. Energy prices decreased by 1.7% month-on-month, resulting in a decrease of approximately 0.13 percentage points in the CPI month-on-month, accounting for nearly 70% of the total decrease. Gasoline prices decreased by 3.8%, with the decrease expanding by 1.8 percentage points compared to the previous month. Food prices decreased by 0.2%, with the decrease being smaller than the seasonal level by 1.1 percentage points, resulting in a decrease of approximately 0.04 percentage points in the CPI month-on-month. Amid continued recovery in consumer demand and factors such as holidays and local cultural and entertainment activities, hotel accommodation prices and travel prices increased by 4.6% and 0.8% respectively, both higher than the seasonal level, with the hotel accommodation price increase reaching a new high in nearly a decade; summer clothing season led to a 0.6% increase in clothing prices. The year-on-year CPI slightly decreased, with the decrease being the same as the previous month. Energy prices decreased by 6.1% year-on-year, with the decrease expanding by 1.3 percentage points compared to the previous month, and impacting a decrease of approximately 0.47 percentage points in the year-on-year CPI, the main factor for the decrease. The policies to boost consumption continue to show results, with some areas experiencing positive price changes. The core CPI increased by 0.6% year-on-year, with the growth rate expanding by 0.1 percentage points compared to the previous month. Excluding energy, industrial consumer goods prices increased by 0.6% year-on-year, with the growth rate expanding by 0.2 percentage points compared to the previous month. The prices of gold jewelry, household textiles, and durable consumer goods increased by 40.1%, 1.9%, and 1.8% respectively, with all seeing growth; prices of fuel-efficient cars and new energy vehicles decreased by 4.2% and 2.8% respectively, with both decreases narrowing. Service prices increased by 0.5%, with the growth rate expanding by 0.2 percentage points compared to the previous month. In services, the prices of renting transport, plane tickets, and tourism increased by 3.6%, 1.2%, and 0.9% respectively. 2. PPI remains low, with some areas showing marginal improvement in prices The main reasons for the decrease in PPI month-on-month this month are as follows: firstly, international input factors have influenced the decrease in prices in related domestic industries. The downward trend in international oil prices has led to a decrease in prices in domestic petroleum-related industries, with prices in oil and gas extraction falling by 5.6%, refined petroleum product manufacturing prices by 3.5%, and prices in chemical materials and chemical product manufacturing by 1.2%, with these three industries combined impacting a decrease of approximately 0.23 percentage points in the PPI month-on-month, accounting for over half of the total decrease. Secondly, there has been a temporary downward trend in prices for some domestic energy and raw materials. Coal demand is at a low season, power plants and ports have sufficient coal reserves, combined with the low cost of new energy power generation and strong substitution effects, coal mining and dressing prices have decreased by 3.0%, and coal processing prices have decreased by 1.1%. With more high-temperature rain weather in the southern region affecting some real estate and infrastructure construction projects, and with sufficient supply of building materials like steel and cement, prices in the ferrous metal smelting and pressing processing industry and non-metallic mineral product industry decreased by 1.0%, impacting a decrease of approximately 0.18 percentage points in the PPI month-on-month. Due to factors such as the high comparison base in the same period of the previous year, the year-on-year decrease in PPI expanded by 0.6 percentage points compared to the previous month. However, from a marginal perspective, as China's macroeconomic policies are strengthened and implemented, there has been an improvement in the supply-demand relationship in some industries, and some sectors are showing positive price trends. Firstly, the continual growth of new consumption momentum is driving prices of living materials and other goods to rebound year-on-year as a result of policies to boost consumption showing continuous results and the release of demand for certain consumer goods. The price of living materials changed from a 0.2% decrease month-on-month to staying the same, with clothing, general daily goods, and durable consumer goods prices increasing by 0.2%, 0.1%, and 0.1% respectively, leading to a narrowing of the year-on-year decrease in living material prices by 0.2 percentage points compared to the previous month. By industry, the price of arts and crafts and giftware manufacturing increased by 12.8% year-on-year, footwear manufacturing prices increased by 0.8%, computer manufacturing prices increased by 0.2%, and prices for household washing machines, televisions, and automobiles decreased by 1.6%, 1.4%, and 0.6% respectively. Secondly, the development of high-end equipment manufacturing and other industries is driving the year-on-year price increases in related industries.Rising. The transformation towards high-end, intelligent, and green development in the industry is steadily progressing, leading to an expansion in demand for high-tech products and a rise in prices in related industries. Prices for integrated circuit packaging and testing series, aircraft manufacturing, wearable smart device manufacturing, microwave communication equipment, servers, and semiconductor device special equipment manufacturing have all risen by 3.6%, 3.0%, 2.1%, 0.8%, and 0.7%, respectively. Additionally, the supply and demand relationship in the new energy industry such as photovoltaic and lithium batteries has improved, leading to a narrowing of the year-on-year price decrease. Prices for photovoltaic equipment and components manufacturing and lithium-ion battery manufacturing have decreased by 12.1% and 5.0%, respectively, with a decrease in range of 0.4 and 0.3 percentage points compared to the previous month.This article is selected from the official website of the National Bureau of Statistics. Edited by GMTEight: Jiang Yuanhua.