China's annual inflation slightly down in August

ANKARA

China's annual inflation slightly went down to 2.5% year-on-year in August, official data showed on Friday.

The figure fell from July's two-year high of 2.7% and was below market forecasts of 2.8%.

Food prices increased by 6.1%, slowing from a 6.3% hike in July which was the steepest pace in 22 months.

Also, the cost of non-food rose 1.7%, moderating from a 1.9% rise, due to a slowdown in transport & communication (4.9% vs 6.1%), housing (0.6% vs 0.7%), household goods and services (1.3% vs 1.4%), according to the National Bureau of Statistics.

China has set an inflation target of around 3% for 2022, the same as in 2021.

On a monthly basis, consumer prices diminished 0.1% in August, the first monthly fall in three months.

The producer price index increased 2.3%, the slowest pace since February 2021, remarkably down from 4.2% a month earlier.