A worker works at an intelligent production base of the Great Wall Motors (GWM) in Yongchuan district of Chongqing, southwest China, Sept 22, 2022. (WANG QUANCHAO / XINHUA)

China's factory-gate inflation fell to its slowest pace in 20 months in September due to a drop in prices of commodities such as crude oil, official data showed on Friday.

China's producer price index, which gauges factory-gate prices, increased 0.9 percent from a year ago in September, following a 2.3 percent rise in August, the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) said.

Compared to a year ago, food prices increased 8.8 percent, against a 6.1 percent gain in August, resulting in a rise of around 1.56 percentage points in headline CPI

On a monthly basis, the PPI fell 0.1 percent in September, narrowing from a 1.2 percent decline in August.

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Meanwhile, China's consumer price index, a main gauge of inflation, rose by 2.8 percent year-on-year in September, following a 2.5 percent rise in the previous month, the NBS data showed.

Compared to a year ago, food prices increased 8.8 percent, against a 6.1 percent gain in August, resulting in a rise of around 1.56 percentage points in headline CPI. Notably, pork prices jumped 36 percent on a yearly basis, compared with a 22.4 percent increase in the previous month. 

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The growth in core CPI, which excludes volatile food and energy prices and is deemed as a better gauge of the supply-demand relationship in the economy, came in at 0.6 percent year-on-year in September after a 0.8 percent rise in the previous month.

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On a monthly basis, September's CPI remained generally stable, reversing the 0.1-percent decline in August to inch up 0.3 percent.

Senior NBS statistician Dong Lijuan attributed the stable CPI performance to continuous efforts to coordinated COVID-19 prevention and control with economic and social development, as well as measures to ensure sufficient supply and stable prices.

Xinhua contributed to this story.

ouyangshijia@chinadaily.com.cn