THE country’s consumer price index (CPI), a main gauge of inflation, rose 1.5% year on year in March, driven by rising the cost of global commodities as well as epidemic outbreaks, data from the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) showed yesterday.

The figure surpassed the unchanged 0.9-percent reading for the past two months

Food prices fell 1.5% from a year earlier, while non-food prices rose 2.2%. Among non-food products, the price of industrial consumer goods rose 1.1%, increasing 0.3% from the previous month, mainly driven by the rise in energy prices, said Dong Lijuan, a senior statistician with the NBS.

The price of pork dropped by 41.4% on an annual basis, further down from a 42.5-percent drop in February. The price of vegetables rose 17.2%, compared with a drop of 0.1% in February.

Gasoline, diesel and liquefied petroleum gas prices rose 24.6%, 26.9% and 27.1%, respectively, year on year. Air ticket prices fell 0.2% in March from an 18% increase in the previous month.

Dong said among the 1.5% year-on-year increase in March, the impact of last year’s price changes was about 0.4%age points, and the impact of new price increases was about 1.1%age points.

Meanwhile, the official producer price index (PPI), which reflects the cost of goods at the factory gate, increased by 8.3% year on year in March, down 0.5%age points from the previous month, data showed.

Dong said the drop is due to a high base during the same period last year and price hikes in bulk commodities.

While the year-on-year PPI rise was the slowest since April 2021, the monthly increase of 1.1% was the fastest pace in five months. (CGTN)