Consumer Prices for March 2018

National Bureau of Statistics of China 2018-04-12 16:50 Print| Large| Medium| Small

In March 2018, the consumer price index (CPI) went up by 2.1 percent year-on-year. The prices grew by 2.1 percent in cities and 1.9 percent in rural areas. The food prices went up by 2.1 percent, and the non-food prices increased 2.1 percent. The prices of consumer goods went up by 1.6 percent and the prices of services grew by 2.8 percent. On average from January to March, the overall consumer prices were up by 2.1 percent from the same period of the previous year.

In March, the consumer prices went down by 1.1 percent month-on-month. Of which, prices went down by 1.1 percent in cities and 1.2 percent in rural areas. The food prices went down by 4.2 percent, and the non-food prices went down by 0.4 percent. The prices of consumer goods decreased 1.4 percent, and the prices of services decreased 0.7 percent.

I. Year-on-Year Changes of Prices of Different Categories

Prices of food, tobacco and liquor, went up by 2.0 percent year-on-year, affecting nearly 0.61 percentage points increase in the CPI. Of which, the prices of eggs, went up by 17.6 percent, affecting nearly 0.09 percentage points increase in the CPI; fresh vegetables, up by 8.8 percent, affecting nearly 0.22 percentage points increase in the CPI; fresh fruits, up by 7.4 percent, affecting nearly 0.13 percentage points increase in the CPI; aquatic products, up by 5.6 percent, affecting nearly 0.10 percentage point increase in the CPI; meat, down by 6.1 percent, affecting nearly 0.29 percentage points decrease in the CPI (price of pork was down by 12.0 percent, affecting nearly 0.32 percentage points decrease in the CPI).

The prices of all the other seven categories increased year-on-year. Of which, the prices of health care, residence, education, culture and recreation, increased 5.7, 2.2 and 2.2 percent respectively, household articles and services, other articles and services, increased 1.6 and 1.2 percent respectively, clothing, transportation and communication, increased 1.1 and 0.3 percent respectively.

II. Month-on-Month Changes of Prices of Different Categories

Prices of food, tobacco and liquor went down by 2.8 percent month-on-month, affecting nearly 0.85 percentage points decrease in the CPI. Of which, prices for fresh vegetables, went down by 14.8 percent, affecting nearly 0.45 percentage points decrease in the CPI; meat, down by 5.4 percent, affecting nearly 0.24 percentage points decrease in the CPI (price of pork was down by 8.4 percent, affecting nearly 0.21 percentage points decrease in the CPI); eggs, aquatic products, fresh fruits, down by 7.9, 3.2 and 2.4 percent respectively, affecting nearly 0.15 percentage points decrease in the CPI in total.

Among the prices of the other seven categories, three increased and four decreased month-on-month. Of which, the prices of clothing, residence, health care, increased 0.6, 0.2 and 0.2 percent respectively, education, culture and recreation, transportation and communication, decreased 1.6 and 1.6 percent respectively, other articles and services, household articles and services, decreased 0.5 and 0.2 percent respectively.

Consumer Prices in March

Items	March		Average on Jan-Mar
Items	M/M (%)	Y/Y (%)	Y/Y (%)

Consumer Prices	-1.1	2.1	2.1
Of which: Urban	-1.1	2.1	2.2
Rural	-1.2	1.9	2.0
Of which: Food	-4.2	2.1	2.0
Non food	-0.4	2.1	2.2
Of which: Consumer Goods	-1.4	1.6	1.7
Services	-0.7	2.8	2.9
Of which: Excluding Food and Energy	-0.3	2.0	2.1
Of which: Excluding Fresh Vegetables and Fresh Fruits	-0.7	1.8	1.9
By Commodity Categories
I. Food, Tobacco and Liquor	-2.8	2.0	1.9
Grain	0.0	1.1	1.1
Cooking Oil	0.1	-1.1	-1.2
Fresh Vegetables	-14.8	8.8	6.6
Meat	-5.4	-6.1	-5.0
Of which: Pork	-8.4	-12.0	-9.9
Beef	-1.5	3.5	3.1
Mutton	-0.9	14.4	13.6
Aquatic Products	-3.2	5.6	5.6
Eggs	-7.9	17.6	18.0
Dairy products	0.3	0.7	0.7
Fresh Fruits	-2.4	7.4	7.5
Tobacco	0.0	0.1	0.1
Liquor	0.6	3.0	3.1
II. Clothing	0.6	1.1	1.2
Clothing	0.7	1.3	1.4
Clothing Processing Service	-0.3	4.1	3.9
Shoes	0.6	0.3	0.4
III. Residence	0.2	2.2	2.4
House Renting	0.6	2.4	2.5
Water, Electricity, and Fuel	-0.4	1.3	1.6
IV. Household Articles and Services	-0.2	1.6	1.6
Household Appliances	0.0	0.7	0.9
Household Services	-2.8	5.5	5.4
V. Transportation and Communication	-1.5	0.3	0.7
Transportation Facilities	-0.2	-1.4	-1.5
Fuels for Vehicles	-2.6	4.3	5.8
Vehicle Use and Maintenance	-3.0	2.3	2.6
Communication Facilities	-0.5	-2.7	-2.6
Communication Services	-0.1	-0.8	-0.7
Postal Services	-0.6	3.3	3.3
VI. Education, Culture and Recreation	-1.6	2.2	2.2
Education Services	0.4	2.7	2.7
Tourism	-10.3	3.6	4.1
VII. Health Care	0.2	5.7	6.0
Traditional Chinese Medicines	0.5	5.0	5.0
Western Medicines	0.6	5.1	5.3
Health Care Services	0.0	6.8	7.1
VIII. Other Articles and Services	-0.5	1.2	1.4

Annotations:

1. Explanatory Notes

Consumer Price Index (CPI) is an index measuring changes over time in the price level of consumer goods and services purchased by residents, which comprehensively reflects the changes of price level.

2. Statistical Coverage

Consumer Price Index (CPI) covers the prices of goods and services of 8 categories and 262 basic divisions which cover the living consumption of urban and rural residents, including food, tobacco and liquor; clothing; residence; household articles and services; transportation and communication; education, culture and recreation; health care; other articles and services.

3. Survey Methods

The prices collection units are selected and determined by sample survey methods, and the original data of consumer prices are collected by specific person in fixed place at fixed time. Data are collected from 88,000 prices collection units in 500 cities and counties of the 31 provinces (autonomous regions and municipalities), which cover shopping malls, supermarkets, open fairs, service outlets and Internet E-commerce suppliers.