China’s producer price inflation accelerated to 5.0% year-on-year in September 2026, up from 3.8% in August and above market expectations of a 4.5% increase. This was the fastest pace since June 2022, driven largely by a rebound in production material prices, which rose 6.5% compared with 5.0% in August. Within this category, price growth was stronger in mining (25.4% vs 17.8%), raw materials (9.4% vs 6.7%) and processing (3.4% vs 3.1%).
In contrast, prices of consumer goods slipped 0.1% year-on-year, moderating from a 0.5% fall in August. By category, food prices declined 1.8%, clothing fell 1.2% and daily-use goods decreased 0.6%, while prices of durable goods rose 1.6%.
Across major industries, there were particularly sharp increases in prices for coal mining (35.3%), oil and gas extraction (24.5%) and non-ferrous metal smelting (21.4%).
On a month-on-month basis, producer prices climbed 1.2% in September, quickening from a 0.4% gain in August. Mining prices jumped 7.7%, while raw material prices advanced 2.6%. For the first nine months of the year, producer prices were up 2.3% compared with the same period a year earlier.
