BEIJING, Jan. 9 (Xinhua) -- China's producer price index (PPI), which measures costs for goods at the factory gate, dropped 0.3 percent year on year in 2019, the National Bureau of Statistics said Thursday.
File photo: VCG
It was down from a growth of 3.5 percent recorded in 2018, according to the bureau.
In December, the PPI dropped 0.5 percent year on year, shrinking from the 1.4-percent decline in November.
Factory prices of capital goods decreased 1.2 percent year on year in December, shrinking from the 2.5-percent declining in November.
Among major industries, prices for ferrous metal mining and calendering increased by 8.8 percent in December over one year ago, while non-ferrous metal mining and calendering saw producer prices rise 1.1 percent year on year.
The producer prices for the oil and natural gas extraction industry ended a losing streak and edged up 5.8 percent year on year in December.
Thursday's data also showed China's consumer price index, a main gauge of inflation, rose 2.9 percent year on year in 2019.