Emre Aytekin
10 June 2026•Update: 10 June 2026
In China, the upward trend in producer prices, driven by the rise in global energy and raw material prices caused by the conflict between the US, Israel, and Iran, continued in May.
According to price increase data released by the National Bureau of Statistics of China (NBS), the Producer Price Index (PPI) rose by 3.9% year-on-year in May.
The PPI, calculated based on factory-gate prices of manufactured goods, fell by 1.4% in January and 0.9% in February of this year, then rose by 0.5% in March—when the initial effects of the war in the Middle East were felt—and by 2.8% in April.
The decline in the PPI that began in the fourth quarter of 2022 had continued for the following three years.
The index had declined by 3% in 2023, 2.2% in 2024, and 2.6% in 2025.
Consumer prices
Meanwhile, the Consumer Price Index (CPI), considered the key indicator of inflation, recorded a 1.2% increase in May compared to the same period last year.
It is observed that the rise in energy prices has led to a limited increase in consumer prices, which had remained stagnant for three years.
After rising by 0.2% in January, the CPI reached its highest level in the past three years with a 1.3% increase in February. The index rose by 1% in March and 1.2% in April.
Consumer prices in China had entered a period of stagnation starting in 2023. Inflation in the country rose by only 0.2% in both 2023 and 2024, and remained flat in 2025.