BEIJING, November 9: China’s factory-gate prices rose 5.7% in October from a year earlier, faster than September’s 5.0%, as the cost of coal, oil, gas and chemicals climbed, the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) said on Monday. Consumer inflation went the other way, easing to 0.7% from 0.9% as food prices fell, leaving a wide gap between what factories charge and what households pay.
Key highlights
- Producer prices (PPI): up 5.7% year on year and 0.7% from September.
- Input costs: industrial purchase prices rose 7.9% year on year; fuel and power purchase prices were up 18.6%.
- Consumer prices (CPI): up 0.7% year on year, unchanged from September on a monthly basis.
- Core CPI (excluding food and energy): 0.8%, down from 1.0% in September.
- Food: down 2.9% year on year; fresh vegetables fell 16.9% and pork 8.6%.
- Transport fuel: up 20.2% year on year and 3.8% in the month.
October’s numbers at a glance
| Indicator | October 2026 | September 2026 |
|---|---|---|
| CPI, year on year | +0.7% | +0.9% |
| CPI, month on month | 0.0% | +0.2% |
| Core CPI, year on year | +0.8% | +1.0% |
| PPI, year on year | +5.7% | +5.0% |
| PPI, month on month | +0.7% | +1.2% |
| Industrial purchase prices, year on year | +7.9% | — |
Energy and raw materials drive factory prices
The rise in producer prices was concentrated in the upstream industries that dig up, refine and process raw materials. Prices of means of production rose 7.4% year on year, while prices of consumer goods at the factory gate slipped 0.1%. Within the first group, extraction industries were up 27.9% and raw-material industries 11.6%.
| Sector (factory-gate prices) | Year on year | Month on month |
|---|---|---|
| Coal mining and washing | +36.6% | +2.7% |
| Oil and natural gas extraction | +35.0% | +6.0% |
| Petroleum, coal and other fuel processing | +29.9% | +6.1% |
| Non-ferrous metal smelting and rolling | +18.6% | −0.1% |
| Chemical raw materials and products | +16.4% | +3.1% |
| Computers, communication and electronics | +5.9% | +0.1% |
| Automobile manufacturing | −1.8% | 0.0% |
| Electricity and heat supply | −3.8% | −0.2% |
From January to October, producer prices were 2.7% higher than a year earlier on average, and purchase prices 4.0% higher.
Why consumer inflation stayed low
Food dragged the consumer index down. Food prices fell 2.9% from a year earlier and 1.0% from September. Fresh vegetables were 16.9% cheaper than a year ago, fresh fruit 3.8% and pork 8.6%, while eggs were 10.1% dearer. The NBS said food, tobacco and alcohol together subtracted about 0.48 percentage points from the annual CPI rate.
Non-food prices rose 1.5%. The biggest increases were in transport fuel (up 20.2%) and communication devices (up 16.1%). Services prices rose 0.7%, and housing costs slipped 0.3%. Over January to October, consumer prices were 0.9% higher on average, and core inflation averaged 1.1%.
Our calculation
The gap between producer and consumer inflation widened to 5.0 percentage points in October (5.7% minus 0.7%), from 4.1 points in September (5.0% minus 0.9%). A gap this wide means factories are absorbing much higher input costs but are not yet able to pass them on to shoppers, whose demand remains soft. The NBS notes that since January 2026 both indices use 2025 as the base year; it estimates the change moves the annual rates by less than 0.1 percentage point.
What it means for India and Asia
- Costlier Chinese inputs: China is a leading supplier of chemicals, metals and electronic components to much of Asia, including India. Factory-gate increases of 16–19% in chemicals and non-ferrous metals can feed into import costs for Indian and South-East Asian manufacturers in the coming months.
- Energy pressure is shared: the jump in transport fuel and coal prices mirrors the energy-cost pressure seen across Asia this autumn, from Thailand’s 3.90% inflation to the Philippines’ 7.8%.
- Weak Chinese demand: consumer inflation below 1% shows household spending in China is still subdued, which limits the boost Chinese demand can give to Asian exporters.
What to watch
- China’s October trade figures from the customs administration, which will show whether higher prices are lifting export values.
- October activity data (industrial output, retail sales and investment) from the NBS in mid-November.
- Whether rising factory costs begin to show up in consumer goods prices in November and December.
Related: China proposes export curbs on 40 technologies · Thailand’s inflation jumps to 3.90%
A Sinopec petrol station in Beijing (file photo) Image: N509FZ, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons. Photo source · Licence
Sources
- National Bureau of Statistics of China: October 2026 CPI release (in Chinese)
- National Bureau of Statistics of China: October 2026 PPI release (in Chinese)
- National Bureau of Statistics of China: interpretation of September 2026 CPI and PPI (in Chinese)
The Business Desk covers markets, the economy, companies and personal finance. Stories are checked against at least two credible sources before publication.
