China’s CPI rose +0.8% YoY (vs +0.9% YoY expected) and +0.2% MoM in December 2025, unchanged from +0.8% YoY in November, reflecting modest headline inflation with continued divergence across major price categories.

• Headline CPI increased +0.8% YoY, with urban prices up +0.9% YoY and rural prices up +0.6% YoY, showing slightly stronger inflation pressures in cities.

• On a monthly basis, CPI rose +0.2% MoM, with both urban and rural prices increasing +0.2%, indicating mild sequential price momentum at year-end.

• Food prices rose +1.1% YoY, driven by fresh vegetables (+18.2% YoY; +0.39 ppts contribution) and fresh fruit (+4.4% YoY), while pork (-14.6% YoY) and eggs (-12.7% YoY) remained key drags on the food basket.

• Non-food prices increased +0.8% YoY, with large gains in other goods and services (+17.4% YoY), daily necessities and services (+2.2% YoY), and medical care (+1.8% YoY), offset by declines in transportation and communication (-2.6% YoY) and housing (-0.2% YoY).

• Core CPI excluding food and energy rose +1.2% YoY and +0.2% MoM, indicating firmer underlying inflation than the headline measure.

• Services prices increased +0.6% YoY and were flat MoM, while consumer goods prices rose +1.0% YoY and +0.3% MoM, showing stronger price growth in goods than services.

• On a MoM basis, food prices rose +0.3%, led by fresh fruit (+2.6% MoM) and vegetables (+0.8% MoM), while pork prices fell -1.7% MoM, partially offsetting food inflation.

• For full-year 2025, national consumer prices were unchanged YoY, indicating that December’s inflation occurred against a backdrop of flat average prices over the year.