China updates CPI base year to 2025 to better reflect price

BEIJING, Feb. 11 (Xinhua) -- China on Wednesday released consumer price index (CPI) data compiled using 2025 as the base year, with the National Bureau of Statistics rolling out the latest base-year update to better reflect changes in consumption.

The update is a routine practice and a common approach for price index compilation internationally. Under China's statistical system, the CPI and producer price index (PPI) base years are updated every five years. Starting this year, China now compiles and releases price indices based on 2025, according to a bureau official.

The CPI tracks changes in prices of a representative "fixed basket" of goods and services frequently consumed by residents. As consumption patterns evolve alongside economic and social development, the basket and comparison base must be adjusted to better reflect the latest market realities, the official said.

For example, as more Chinese residents purchase new energy passenger vehicles, electricity used for vehicles -- as an energy source for transport -- needs to be included in the CPI survey in a timely manner, the official added.

As part of the update, adjustments were made to the CPI classification catalogue, survey outlets, representative product specifications, category weights and the price comparison base period.

Following the update, the CPI still consists of eight major categories and 268 basic classes. Based on the deletion, mergers and splits of certain items, new categories were added to capture emerging consumption in an improved manner, including home security devices, elderly care products, dishwashers, electricity for vehicles, photography services, online medical services and medical aesthetics services.

Based on what the survey actually covers, the "food, tobacco and alcohol" category was revised to "food, tobacco, alcohol and dining out," and "tourism" was revised to "travel agencies and other tourism services."

To better reflect overall price changes in residents' travel-related consumption, a derived index for travel services was also introduced, covering categories such as air tickets, train tickets, accommodation, vehicle rentals, travel agencies and other tourism services.

Under the latest base-year update, the CPI survey covered about 120,000 outlets nationwide and approximately 620,000 representative product specifications, expanding its coverage from the previous base-year cycle.

To capture new consumption patterns more effectively, the survey added outlets such as membership-based supermarkets and other new-format retailers, as well as emerging on-demand instant-retail platforms like flash delivery services, and it also introduced new representative item specifications, including smart drones.

CPI data collection methods were improved upon, with a higher share of big-data applications such as online transaction prices, corporate electronic data and administrative records.

The 2025 base-year weights for the eight major CPI categories were set at 29.5 percent for food, tobacco, alcohol and dining out; 5.4 percent for clothing; 22.1 percent for housing; 5.5 percent for household goods and services; 14.3 percent for transport and communication; 11.4 percent for education, culture and recreation; 8.9 percent for health care; and 2.9 percent for other goods and services.

Compared with the 2020 base year, overall weight changes were limited, the official said, adding that the weight of services has increased and that of consumer goods has decreased, which is in line with economic and social development trends, as well as China's actual conditions.

China's CPI edged up 0.2 percent year on year in January, while core CPI, which excludes food and energy prices, rose 0.8 percent, according to data released by the bureau.

The country's PPI has also begun using 2025 as the base year for its calculations.

Wednesday's data revealed that China's PPI rose 0.4 percent month on month in January, marking a fourth consecutive monthly increase, while the year-on-year decline narrowed to 1.4 percent from a 1.9-percent drop in December.