Shenzhen's consumer price index (CPI), a major gauge of inflation, increased by 0.3 percent in August compared with July, according to the Shenzhen survey office of the National Bureau of Statistics, the Southern Metropolis Daily reported.
The city’s CPI in August rose by 3.1 percent over the same period last year. On a yearly basis, the CPI in the January-August period increased by 3 percent.
The growth in CPI was mainly driven by a sustained rise in food prices, as they increased by 2.3 percent compared with a month earlier.
Nonfood prices and service prices both decreased by 0.2 percent compared with a month earlier, while the price of consumer goods rose 0.6 percent over the previous month.
In terms of food items, tight market supply has continued to push up pork prices, which surged by 21.8 percent in August, up about 14.3 percentage points over the previous month.
The prices of fresh fruits, such as watermelon and banana, continued to decline. The increasing supply of fruit in autumn also led to a 12.5-percent drop in fresh fruit prices.
Additionally, the abundant supply of vegetables dropped the overall price steadily. In August, the prices of fresh vegetables decreased by 2.8 percent.
Regarding nonfood items, gold and platinum jewelry prices went up, while the prices of tourism products and air tickets dropped as the summer travel season came to an end.
Influenced by increasing global economic and geopolitical uncertainties, gold prices have continued to rise substantially this year, driving up gold and platinum jewelry prices by 9.1 percent and 8.8 percent, respectively.
Overall, Shenzhen’s food prices, nonfood prices, service prices and prices of consumer goods in August grew by 10.8 percent, 1.3 percent, 2.1 percent and 3.7 percent year on year, respectively.