China’s consumer prices rose at their highest rate in more than eight years, official data showed Monday, with inflation more than expected on the back of Lunar New Year demand and a deadly virus outbreak.
Beijing had already been battling a slowing domestic economy before the new coronavirus emerged, disrupting businesses, travel and supply chains.
The consumer price index (CPI), a key gauge of retail inflation, came in at 5.4 percent last month on-year, up from 4.5 percent in December — with prices of pork and fresh vegetables pushing up costs.
Food prices spiked 20.6 percent.
The overall monthly figure exceeded the 4.9 percent forecast by analysts in a Bloomberg survey and is the highest since October 2011.
“The year-on-year increase has been affected not only by Spring Festival-related factors but… by the new coronavirus as well,” said the National Bureau of Statistics on Monday.