A consumer selects vegetables at a supermarket in Wuxi, Jiangsu province, China, Jan 12, 2024. (PHOTO / XINHUA)

BEIJING - China's consumer price index (CPI), a key indicator of inflation, edged up 0.3 percent month-on-month in January 2024, official data showed Thursday.

The CPI in January went down 0.8 percent year-on-year, according to the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS).

The carryover effect sent the CPI inflation down by 1.1 percentage points, while new price increases edged the growth up by 0.3 percentage points, said Dong Lijuan, an NBS senior statistician. 

Food prices went up 0.4 percent month-on-month in January, dragging up consumer inflation by 0.08 percentage points, according to the NBS

The domestic consumer demand continued to increase last month driven by the holiday effect, said Dong. This year's Spring Festival falls on Feb 10. 

READ MORE: China's consumer inflation down 0.3% in December 2023

Food prices went up 0.4 percent month-on-month in January, dragging up consumer inflation by 0.08 percentage points, according to the NBS.

Non-food prices went up 0.2 percent month-on-month last month, compared to a 0.1-percent decline in December last year, with air ticket prices surging 12.1 percent, while tourism went up 4.2 percent from the previous month.

The core CPI, which excludes food and energy prices, went up 0.4 percent year-on-year last month, said the NBS.

This photo taken on Feb 17, 2023 shows robot arms working on the production line at a glass factory in Jiamusi, Heilongjiang province, China. (PHOTO / XINHUA)

PPI down 2.5%

Thursday's data also revealed that China's producer price index (PPI), which measures costs for goods at the factory gate, went down 2.5 percent year-on-year in January 2024.

Prices of means of production fell 0.2 percent month-on-month, contributing 0.17 percentage points to the overall decline in monthly PPI for January, NBS data showed

The decrease narrowed from a 2.7-percent decline in December. On a monthly basis, the January PPI edged down 0.2 percent, according to the NBS.

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"Due to factors such as fluctuations in the international commodity prices and some domestic industries entering the off-season, the PPI declined in January. However, both year-on-year and month-on-month declines reduced," Dong said.

Prices of means of production fell 0.2 percent month-on-month, contributing 0.17 percentage points to the overall decline in monthly PPI for January, NBS data showed.

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Among the major industries, the PPI of the oil and gas extraction industry fell 0.8 percent month-on-month, while the petroleum, coal and other fuel processing sector fell 1.7 percent from the previous month.

The PPI of coal mining and washing industry edged up 0.1 percent month-on-month due to increased heating demand in some regions.