China's headline inflation rate halved in July and the measure that leaves out food and energy moved by a tenth of a point, because almost all of the difference was fuel
The headline halved. The measure underneath it moved by a tenth of a point.
China's consumer price index rose 0.5 percent against July 2025, the National Bureau of Statistics said on Sunday morning, down from 1.0 percent in June. On the month the index fell 0.1 percent. The measure that excludes food and energy rose 0.9 percent on the year, against 1.0 percent in June, and it rose 0.3 percent on the month while the headline was falling. For the first seven months of the year the headline averages 0.9 percent.
Where the half point went
Transport fuel was 15.3 percent more expensive in June than a year earlier. In July it was 0.8 percent more expensive.
That single line fell 9.8 percent against June, the largest monthly move anywhere in the table, and it carried its category with it: transport and communication went from 4.1 percent on the year in June to 0.4 percent in July. Nothing else in the release moves at that scale. The bureau does not say why, and neither will this item.
Six up, one down
Of the seven major categories outside food, six rose on the year and one fell.
Other goods and services rose 5.8 percent, healthcare 2.9 percent, clothing 1.4 percent, education, culture and recreation 1.3 percent, household goods and services 0.8 percent, and transport and communication 0.4 percent. Housing fell 0.3 percent, and it was 0.3 percent lower in June too. Inside it, rent was 0.6 percent lower than a year earlier for the second consecutive month.
Services rose 0.7 percent on the year and consumer goods 0.2 percent. Within services, medical services rose 4.3 percent on the year and 1.1 percent on the month, and travel agency and other tourism services rose 6.6 percent on the month in the middle of the summer holiday.
One line drags more than the category holding it
Food, tobacco, alcohol and dining out fell 0.8 percent on the year, which the bureau puts at about 0.22 percentage points off the index. Livestock meat alone fell 6.0 percent, which it puts at about 0.25 points off. The meat line therefore subtracts more than the whole category it sits inside, because other things in that category push the other way, eggs most of all at 14.4 percent higher on the year and about 0.07 points added.
Pork is the line where the two horizons disagree. It was 13.3 percent cheaper than in July 2025 and 4.1 percent dearer than in June.
What the index is built on
The bureau's appendix describes the survey behind the number: 8 major categories, 268 basic classifications, about 500 cities and counties across 31 provinces, autonomous regions and municipalities, and close to 120,000 collection points including shops, supermarkets, fresh produce markets, service outlets and online sellers.
The same appendix carries a note for anyone comparing across the turn of the year. From January 2026 the index is compiled on a 2025 base year, with the classification catalogue, the representative specifications, the collection points and the category weights all adjusted. The bureau puts the average effect of that on the monthly year on year figures at about 0.06 percentage points.
