According to information from the Hefei branch of the National Bureau of Statistics, in December 2023, the consumer prices in Hefei decreased by 0.1% compared to the same period last year, narrowing down by 0.4 percentage points from the previous month.
Influenced by the widespread temperature drop and snowfall across the country, fresh vegetable prices rose by 17.0% month-on-month, leading to a 0.2% increase in the consumer prices in Hefei compared to the previous month.
Regarding the year-on-year changes, pork prices decreased by 26.3%. Looking at the entire year, the consumer prices for Hefei residents remained the same as the previous year. The food, tobacco, and alcohol prices decreased by 1.1%, affecting a decrease of approximately 0.30 percentage points in the Consumer Price Index (CPI).
Among them, the prices of fresh vegetables increased by 9.0%, contributing to a rise of about 0.15 percentage points in the CPI; aquatic product prices increased by 1.5%, affecting a rise of about 0.03 percentage points in the CPI; fresh fruit prices decreased by 3.4%, leading to a decrease of about 0.07 percentage points in the CPI; egg prices decreased by 9.3%, causing a decrease of about 0.07 percentage points in the CPI; prices of livestock and poultry meat decreased by 14.4%, resulting in a decrease of about 0.52 percentage points (pork prices decreased by 26.3%, contributing to a decrease of about 0.42 percentage points in the CPI).
Among the other seven major categories, five showed an increase, and two showed a decrease year-on-year. Specifically, prices for other goods and services, education, culture, and entertainment, clothing, housing, and healthcare increased by 3.1%, 1.1%, 1.1%, 1.0%, and 0.3%, respectively.
In contrast, prices for transportation and communication, and daily necessities and services decreased by 2.4% and 0.8%, respectively.
In terms of month-on-month changes, consumer prices in Hefei increased by 0.2% compared to the previous month. Food prices rose by 1.5%, while non-food prices decreased by 0.1%. Consumer goods prices increased by 0.2%, and service prices increased by 0.1%.
The prices of food, tobacco, and alcohol rose by 1.0%, influencing an increase of about 0.29 percentage points in the CPI. Notably, due to the impact of widespread temperature drop and snowfall, vegetable prices at the main production areas increased, leading to reduced supply in distant transportation markets for items like green peppers, cucumbers, tomatoes, and other produce.
Additionally, local vegetable production was affected by the cold weather, resulting in decreased market supply. This contributed to a 17.0% increase in fresh vegetable prices, influencing a rise of approximately 0.26 percentage points in the CPI. Egg, aquatic product, and fresh fruit prices increased by 2.1%, 1.8%, and 0.9%, respectively, collectively affecting a rise of about 0.06 percentage points in the CPI. Livestock and poultry meat prices decreased by 0.4%, causing a decrease of about 0.01 percentage points in the CPI.
For the other seven major categories, three showed an increase, two showed a decrease, and two remained unchanged month-on-month. Specifically, prices for other goods and services, education, culture, and entertainment, and daily necessities and services increased by 0.5%, 0.4%, and 0.1%, respectively.
Prices for transportation and communication, and clothing decreased by 1.3% and 0.3%, respectively, while prices for housing and healthcare remained unchanged compared to the previous month.
