China's consumer prices declined for the first time in more than a decade in November due to the fall in pork prices, data released by the National Bureau of Statistics showed Wednesday.
Consumer prices fell unexpectedly by 0.5 percent year-on-year in November after rising 0.5 percent a month ago.
This was the first decline since October 2009. Economists had forecast an increase of 0.8 percent.
Food prices decreased 2 percent annually due to a notable 12.5 percent fall in pork prices. Pork prices had logged a sharp increase in the last year due to the shortage caused by the African swine flu.
Core inflation that excludes food and energy prices climbed 0.5 percent from last year in November.
On a monthly basis, consumer prices were down 0.6 percent versus the expected fall of 0.2 percent.
In a separate communiqué, the statistical office said producer prices decreased 1.5 percent on year in November but slower than October's 2.1 percent decline. Prices were expected to fall 1.8 percent.
The decline in consumer prices is not evidence of faltering demand, Julian Evans-Pritchard and Sheana Yue, economists at Capital Economics, said. To the contrary, broader price pressures are starting to pick up on the back of the improvement in economic activity.
The People's Bank of China will look through this and focus on underlying inflation which is likely to pick up in the coming months as economic activity remains strong, the economists said.
Low headline inflation is unlikely to prevent the People's Bank from tightening policy next year, they added.
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December 19, 2025 15:10 ET U.S. inflation data and interest rate decisions by major central banks were the highlights of this busy week for economics news flow. Employment data and survey results on the housing markets also gained attention in the U.S. In Europe, the European Central Bank and Bank of England announced their policy decisions and macroeconomic projections.