China's CPI up 0.9 pct in January

A staff member works at a supermarket in Bijie, southwest China's Guizhou Province, Feb. 16, 2022. China's inflation was further tamed in January as food prices saw a decline, while price retreats in coal and steel sectors prompted factory-gate inflation to moderate, official data showed Wednesday. The consumer price index (CPI), a main gauge of inflation, rose 0.9 percent year on year in January, down from the 1.5-percent increase a month ago, data from the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) showed. (Photo by Wang Chunliang/Xinhua)

BEIJING, Feb. 16 (Xinhua) -- China's consumer price index (CPI), a main gauge of inflation, rose 0.9 percent year on year in January, down from the 1.5-percent increase a month ago, the National Bureau of Statistics said Wednesday.

A breakdown of the data showed that food prices dropped 3.8 percent year on year, a decline 2.6 percentage points higher than that in December 2021.

The price of pork, a staple meat in China, slumped 41.6 percent year on year, compared with a 36.7-percent decrease a month ago.

Non-food prices rose 2 percent from a year earlier, eased from the 2.1-percent increase reported in the previous month.

The core CPI, which excludes food and energy prices, gained 1.2 percent year on year, flat with a month ago.

Wednesday's data also showed the country's producer price index, which measures costs for goods at the factory gate, went up 9.1 percent year on year in January. 

(220216) -- LIANYUNGANG, Feb. 16, 2022 (Xinhua) -- A customer shops at a supermarket in Lianyungang, east China's Jiangsu Province, Feb. 16, 2022. China's inflation was further tamed in January as food prices saw a decline, while price retreats in coal and steel sectors prompted factory-gate inflation to moderate, official data showed Wednesday. The consumer price index (CPI), a main gauge of inflation, rose 0.9 percent year on year in January, down from the 1.5-percent increase a month ago, data from the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) showed. (Photo by Wang Chun/Xinhua)

(220216) -- NANJING, Feb. 16, 2022 (Xinhua) -- A customer shops vegetables at a supermarket in Nanjing, east China's Jiangsu Province, Feb. 16, 2022. China's inflation was further tamed in January as food prices saw a decline, while price retreats in coal and steel sectors prompted factory-gate inflation to moderate, official data showed Wednesday. The consumer price index (CPI), a main gauge of inflation, rose 0.9 percent year on year in January, down from the 1.5-percent increase a month ago, data from the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) showed. (Photo by Su Yang/Xinhua)

(220216) -- HANDAN, Feb. 16, 2022 (Xinhua) -- A customer shops vegetables at a supermarket in Handan, north China's Hebei Province, Feb. 16, 2022. China's inflation was further tamed in January as food prices saw a decline, while price retreats in coal and steel sectors prompted factory-gate inflation to moderate, official data showed Wednesday. The consumer price index (CPI), a main gauge of inflation, rose 0.9 percent year on year in January, down from the 1.5-percent increase a month ago, data from the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) showed. (Photo by Hao Qunying/Xinhua)