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Story · China · Published 30 Aug 2026, 07:41

China producer prices were 3.5% higher compared with a year earlier in July

China's industrial producer-price index was 3.5% higher in July 2026 than in July 2025, but fell 0.7% between June 2026 and July 2026.

Inflation
Updated 30 Aug 2026, 07:45Occurred 10 Aug 2026, 01:30Exam relevance 90/100
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30-second read

China's industrial producer-price index was 3.5% higher in July 2026 than in July 2025, but fell 0.7% between June 2026 and July 2026.

3.5%

China industrial PPI year-on-year — July 2026

-0.7%

China industrial PPI month-on-month — June 2026 to July 2026

1.8%

China industrial PPI average year-on-year — January to July 2026

Exam link: Producer prices measure price changes faced by industrial producers and can indicate cost pressure earlier in the supply chain.

Understand the story +

NBS producer-price data show a 3.5% compared with a year earlier change in July 2026 alongside a -0.7% compared with the previous month change from June 2026 to July 2026. From January to July 2026, producer prices averaged 1.8% higher than a year earlier.

What happened

China's industrial producer-price index was 3.5% compared with a year earlier in July 2026. From June 2026 to July 2026, the index fell 0.7%. Across January to July 2026, the average compared with a year earlier change was 1.8%.

Why it matters

Producer prices measure price changes faced by industrial producers and can indicate cost pressure earlier in the supply chain. Higher producer prices can feed into consumer inflation, but the pass-through depends on firms' margins, productivity, demand and competition.

Economic context

Use the 3.5% compared with a year earlier PPI figure as evidence of producer-price pressure in China in July 2026, while noting that the -0.7% compared with the previous month movement from June 2026 to July 2026 points in a different short-run direction. PPI is not the same as CPI and does not translate one-for-one into consumer inflation.

All key data +
China industrial PPI year-on-year — July 2026
3.5%
China industrial PPI month-on-month — June 2026 to July 2026
-0.7%
China industrial PPI average year-on-year — January to July 2026
1.8%
Use it in an exam +

Evidence

3.5% — China industrial PPI year-on-year — July 2026

Explain

Producer prices measure price changes faced by industrial producers and can indicate cost pressure earlier in the supply chain. Higher producer prices can feed into consumer inflation, but the pass-through depends on firms' margins, productivity, demand and competition.

Evaluate

Use the 3.5% compared with a year earlier PPI figure as evidence of producer-price pressure in China in July 2026, while noting that the -0.7% compared with the previous month movement from June 2026 to July 2026 points in a different short-run direction. PPI is not the same as CPI and does not translate one-for-one into consumer inflation.

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