China's consumer prices fell 1.5 per cent in the year to April, marking the third consecutive month of deflation, the National Bureau of Statistics said today.
Economists had expected a 1.4 per cent decline in the consumer price index (CPI) following a 1.2 per cent fall in the year to March.
In the first four months of this year, prices were down 0.8 per cent, the statistics office said.
In April alone, consumer prices fell 0.2 per cent, it said. This month-on-month figure is not seasonally adjusted.
Food prices, which make up a third of the consumer basket, fell 1.3 per cent in April from a year earlier. Non-food prices were down 1.5 per cent.
China's producer prices fell 6.6 per cent in the year to April, the rate of decline accelerating from a 6 per cent drop in the 12 months to March, the agency said.
Economists polled by Reuters had expected the producer price index to fall 6.5 per cent. In the first four months of this year, producer prices were down 5.1 per cent, the statistics office said.
Reuters