National Bureau of Statistics: May CPI up 1.2% year-on-year
According to the National Bureau of Statistics website, in May 2026, the national consumer price index (CPI) rose 1.2% year-on-year. Among them, urban areas rose 1.3%, rural areas rose 1.1%; food prices fell 1.7%, non-food prices rose 1.9%; consumer goods prices rose 1.6%, service prices rose 0.8%. On average from January to May, the national CPI increased by 1.0% from the same period last year.
In May, the national CPI fell 0.1% month-on-month. Among them, urban areas fell 0.1%, rural areas fell 0.1%; food prices fell 0.4%, non-food prices fell 0.1%; consumer goods prices fell 0.2%, service prices fell 0.1%.
I. Year-on-year changes in prices of various goods and services
In May, the price of food, tobacco, alcohol and dining out fell 0.9% year-on-year, affecting a decrease of about 0.26 percentage points in CPI. Among food items, meat prices fell 7.4%, affecting a decrease of about 0.31 percentage points in CPI, of which pork prices fell 16.1%, affecting a decrease of about 0.31 percentage points; fresh fruit prices fell 2.2%, affecting a decrease of about 0.04 percentage points; egg prices rose 6.6%, affecting an increase of about 0.03 percentage points; fresh vegetable prices rose 1.6%, affecting an increase of about 0.02 percentage points; aquatic product prices rose 0.6%, affecting an increase of about 0.01 percentage points.
Among the other seven major categories, prices rose in six and fell in one year-on-year. Among them, prices for other goods and services, transportation and communication, and medical care rose 9.9%, 5.4%, and 2.1% respectively; prices for daily necessities and services, clothing, and education, culture and entertainment rose 1.8%, 1.4%, and 1.3% respectively; housing prices fell 0.2%.
II. Month-on-month changes in prices of various goods and services
In May, the price of food, tobacco, alcohol and dining out fell 0.2% month-on-month, affecting a decrease of about 0.06 percentage points in CPI. Among food items, fresh vegetable prices fell 3.6%, affecting a decrease of about 0.06 percentage points; meat prices fell 0.8%, affecting a decrease of about 0.03 percentage points, of which pork prices fell 1.6%, affecting a decrease of about 0.03 percentage points; egg prices rose 5.0%, affecting an increase of about 0.03 percentage points; fresh fruit prices rose 0.6%, affecting an increase of about 0.01 percentage points.
Among the other seven major categories, prices rose in one, remained flat in two, and fell in four month-on-month. Among them, clothing prices rose 0.6%; education, culture and entertainment, and medical care prices were flat; prices for daily necessities and services, and other goods and services both fell 0.4%; transportation and communication, and housing prices fell 0.3% and 0.1% respectively.
May CPI stable overall, PPI continues to rise
Dong Lijuan, chief statistician of the Urban Department of the National Bureau of Statistics, pointed out in her interpretation of the May 2026 CPI and PPI data that in May, the consumer market operated generally stably. The CPI fell 0.1% month-on-month and rose 1.2% year-on-year. The core CPI excluding food and energy prices rose 1.1% year-on-year. Affected by factors such as increased demand in some domestic industries and the transmission of international commodity price fluctuations, the producer price index (PPI) rose 0.5% month-on-month and 3.9% year-on-year.
I. CPI generally stable
On a month-on-month basis, the national CPI fell 0.1%, compared with a rise of 0.3% in the previous month, mainly affected by changes in energy and service prices. Affected by the transmission of international oil prices, domestic gasoline prices fell 0.3% from a rise of 12.6% in the previous month, driving a change in energy prices from a rise of 5.7% last month to a fall of 0.1%. The impact on the month-on-month CPI changed from a pull-up of 0.39 percentage points last month to a pull-down of 0.01 percentage points. Affected by the seasonal decline in travel after the May Day holiday, service prices fell 0.1% from a rise of 0.5% last month, changing the impact on the month-on-month CPI from a pull-up of 0.22 percentage points last month to a pull-down of 0.03 percentage points. Among them, prices for transportation vehicle rental and air tickets fell 6.8% and 6.3% respectively from rises of 8.6% and 29.2% last month, together affecting a decrease of about 0.04 percentage points in the month-on-month CPI. Summer clothing renewal drove clothing prices up 0.6%. Strong AI-related demand drove mobile phone and tablet computer prices up 1.6% and 1.1% respectively. The above three items together affected a month-on-month CPI increase of about 0.05 percentage points. Food prices fell 0.4%, with a narrower decline of 1.2 percentage points from last month, affecting a month-on-month CPI decrease of about 0.07 percentage points. Among food items, a large supply of seasonal vegetables drove fresh vegetable prices down 3.6%, affecting a month-on-month CPI decrease of about 0.06 percentage points; pork supply was ample, with prices falling 1.6%, a narrower decline of 4.1 percentage points from last month, affecting a month-on-month CPI decrease of about 0.03 percentage points; due to a tight supply stage combined with high summer temperatures reducing egg production rates and stockpiling before the Dragon Boat Festival, egg prices rose 6.1%, affecting a month-on-month CPI increase of about 0.03 percentage points.
On a year-on-year basis, the national CPI rose 1.2%, the same as last month. Among them, industrial consumer goods prices rose 3.9%, with a 0.4 percentage point expansion from last month, affecting a year-on-year CPI increase of about 1.18 percentage points. Among industrial consumer goods, affected by a low base in the same period last year, gasoline prices expanded further to 23.5%, affecting a year-on-year CPI increase of about 0.66 percentage points; gold jewelry prices continued to moderate to 39.0%, affecting a year-on-year CPI increase of about 0.17 percentage points; household appliances and clothing prices rose 3.4% and 1.5% respectively, together affecting a year-on-year CPI increase of about 0.12 percentage points. Service prices rose 0.8%, a 0.1 percentage point slowdown from last month, affecting a year-on-year CPI increase of about 0.40 percentage points. Among services, travel service prices rose 2.8%, a 0.9 percentage point slowdown from last month; other service prices were generally stable. Food prices fell 1.7%, with a 0.1 percentage point expansion in decline from last month, affecting a year-on-year CPI decrease of about 0.30 percentage points. Among food items, pork prices fell 16.1%, with a 0.9 percentage point expansion in decline from last month, affecting a year-on-year CPI decrease of about 0.31 percentage points; fresh fruit prices fell 2.2%, affecting a year-on-year CPI decrease of about 0.04 percentage points; prices of eggs, lamb, beef, poultry, aquatic products, and fresh vegetables all rose, with increases ranging from 0.6% to 8.4%, together affecting a year-on-year CPI increase of about 0.13 percentage points.
II. PPI continues to rise
On a month-on-month basis, the national PPI rose 0.5%, a 1.2 percentage point slowdown from last month. The main characteristics of this month's month-on-month PPI operation: First, industrial structural optimization and upgrading drove price increases in some industries. The continued promotion of manufacturing equipment renewal drove ferrous metal smelting and rolling processing industry prices up 1.2% month-on-month. Accelerated electrification, deep integration of AI with various fields, and growing computing power demand drove price increases in non-ferrous metals, electrical machinery, and computer-related industries. Non-ferrous metal smelting and rolling processing industry prices rose 1.1%, among which tin smelting and copper smelting prices rose 4.8% and 3.1% respectively; computer, communication and other electronic equipment manufacturing industry prices rose 0.6%, among which integrated circuit packaging testing series and external storage equipment and parts prices rose 2.9% and 1.9% respectively; electrical machinery and equipment manufacturing industry prices rose 0.5%, among which optical fiber manufacturing and wire and cable manufacturing prices rose 8.0% and 1.2% respectively. Second, seasonal demand increases drove price increases in some industries. Coal stockpiling for summer peak demand and non-power coal demand increased, driving coal mining and washing industry prices up 3.2% month-on-month. As temperatures gradually rose in May, prices for household air conditioner manufacturing and household refrigeration appliance manufacturing rose 0.9% and 0.3% respectively, and electricity supply prices rose 0.4%. Third, the transmission of international crude oil price fluctuations caused a shift from rise to fall or a slowdown in price increases in domestic related industries. Oil extraction prices turned from a rise of 24.1% last month to a fall of 1.8% month-on-month, refined petroleum product manufacturing prices turned from a rise of 19.0% to a fall of 0.3%. Chemical raw material and chemical products manufacturing, chemical fiber manufacturing, and rubber and plastic products industry prices rose 2.0%, 1.5%, and 1.5% respectively, with increases slowing by 6.3, 4.1, and 0.2 percentage points respectively from last month.
On a year-on-year basis, the national PPI rose 3.9%, a 1.1 percentage point expansion from last month. By industry, among industries with price increases: non-ferrous metal mining and dressing industry rose 36.5% year-on-year, non-ferrous metal smelting and rolling processing rose 24.0%, coal mining and washing rose 10.0%, electrical machinery and equipment manufacturing rose 4.5%, computer, communication and other electronic equipment manufacturing rose 2.1%, ferrous metal smelting and rolling processing rose 1.0%. The above six industries together affected a year-on-year PPI increase of about 2.56 percentage points, with an upward pull of 0.51 percentage points more than last month; oil and natural gas extraction, oil, coal and other fuel processing, and chemical raw material and chemical products manufacturing rose 35.7%, 18.4%, and 12.7% respectively, together affecting a year-on-year PPI increase of about 1.96 percentage points, with an upward pull of 0.46 percentage points more than last month. Among industries with price declines: non-metallic mineral products industry fell 5.1%, electricity and heat production and supply fell 4.4%, automobile manufacturing fell 2.0%, agricultural and sideline food processing fell 1.4%, together affecting a year-on-year PPI decrease of about 0.75 percentage points, with a downward pull of 0.01 percentage points more than last month.
