China's consumer prices rise 0.9% in September as gasoline costs climb 16.6% on the year

China's National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) reported on 14 October 2026 that the consumer price index rose 0.9% on the year in September, up from 0.8% in August. On the month the index rose 0.2%, a slower increase than the 0.4% rise in August. For the first nine months of the year, consumer prices were 0.9% higher than a year earlier.

What drove it

• Gasoline: +16.6% on the year, contributing about 0.47 percentage point to the headline
• Industrial consumer goods excluding energy: +1.6%, contributing about 0.39 point
• Services: +0.8%, unchanged from August, contributing about 0.4 point. Travel prices rose 2.1% and medical services 4%
• Food: −1.7% on the year, which pulled the headline down

The NBS said the rise reflected energy and industrial consumer goods prices, while falling food prices weighed on the total.

Reading it

Headline inflation is still low, but the composition has changed. Energy now contributes most of the increase, and food is falling. Analysts quoted by Xinhua expect a gradual recovery in prices as domestic demand improves. The producer price index for September is more pressing: it rose 5.0% on the year, as set out in the PPI report.

For the wider picture, see China's August inflation report and China's August activity figures. Live prices: AUD/USD.