The changes in "clothing, food, housing, and transportation" are all here →, with more than half of the 2023 progress bar compared to the same period last year | Data | Progress bar

The data released by the National Bureau of Statistics today shows that the consumer market in China remained basically stable in June, with the consumer price index remaining unchanged year-on-year and a month on month decrease of 0.2%. From 1 ­— On average, in June, the consumer prices of Chinese residents increased by 0.7% compared to the same period last year.

Overall sufficient supply in the first half of the year

Stable food prices

Among the eight categories of goods and services counted by the Consumer Price Index (CPI), "clothing, food, housing, and transportation" are the most closely related to people's lives. Next, let's take a look at the changes in "clothing, food, housing, and transportation" in the first half of this year through sorting.

As the saying goes, "Food is the paramount necessity of the people," and the proportion of food prices in the Consumer Price Index (CPI) is also the largest. The data released by the National Bureau of Statistics today shows that food prices remained generally stable in the first half of the year.

From this monthly price trend chart, it can be seen that the increase in food prices has gradually declined and slightly rebounded from 6.2% in January to 0.4% in April, and then to 2.3% in June, but overall it has remained basically stable.

So, what is the reason for the basic stability of food prices? We can explore the price trends of these categories. In the first half of the year, domestic grain production remained generally stable, and international grain prices continued to decline from their high levels in the same period last year. The increase in grain prices gradually declined month by month.

In recent years, China has continuously expanded its investment in the production, storage, and transportation of vegetables. The "green channel" policy for the transportation of fresh agricultural products has been continuously implemented, and the production, transportation, and sales of vegetables have become increasingly smooth. Fresh vegetable prices have gradually fallen since February. After June, due to weather conditions, vegetable prices have increased slightly, but overall supply is sufficient and will gradually stabilize in the future.

In the first half of the year, pork production capacity was relatively high, and meat prices showed a monthly downward trend. At the end of June, the national average pig to grain ratio was lower than 5:1, and the country promptly launched the second batch of central pork reserve collection and storage work within the year. It is expected that in the third quarter, as the temperature drops and consumption increases, pig prices are expected to gradually rise, but the upward space is limited, and the overall price trend will still be stable.

In the first half of the year, clothing prices moderately and slightly increased

Next, let's take a look at the price changes of clothing products in the first half of the year. The data released by the National Bureau of Statistics today shows that in the first half of the year, clothing prices increased by 0.5% to 0.9% year-on-year, with a moderate increase in magnitude.

From the trend chart, it can be seen that in the first half of this year, clothing prices generally showed a mild upward trend. Among them, the months with faster price increases were concentrated from March to May, mainly driven by the recovery of mass consumption and the need to purchase seasonal clothing.

The increase in raw material costs such as cotton has to some extent driven up the prices of clothing products. From a monthly perspective, the monthly increase in clothing prices has remained relatively stable at over 0.6%, while the prices of shoes have increased month by month from a steady increase in January. Overall, the increase is not significant and has remained relatively stable.

From the perspective of the industry itself, in the context of promoting consumption and expanding domestic demand in various regions, the recovery of the consumer goods manufacturing industry is significant. According to data released by the National Bureau of Statistics, the profits of the leather shoe and textile clothing industries increased by 1.05 times and 47.0% year-on-year in May, respectively.

In the first half of the year, there was a slight overall decrease in residential prices

The term "housing" in "clothing, food, housing, and transportation" corresponds to residential prices in CPI, mainly composed of rent prices and water, electricity, and fuel costs. The data released by the National Bureau of Statistics today shows that in the first half of this year, housing prices in China have shown an overall downward trend.

In the first half of the year, residential prices slightly decreased year-on-year, with a monthly decrease of about 0.2%, and the price trend remained stable. In the first quarter, due to factors such as a large number of migrant workers returning to work after the Spring Festival, there was a strong demand for new and rental exchanges. Rent prices showed an upward trend month on month, and the increase tended to stabilize after April. From the perspective of water and electricity fuel prices, starting from March, it is mainly affected by seasonal factors such as warming temperatures and decreasing heating demand, resulting in a slight decrease in water and electricity fuel prices. After entering summer, with the arrival of high temperature weather, the daily electricity consumption of residents will gradually increase, and the prices of water, electricity, and gas will show a slight upward trend.

Since the beginning of this year, relevant departments have successively introduced multiple policy measures to support the development of the housing rental market. Cities such as Beijing and Shanghai have also successively introduced housing rental regulations to protect the rental needs of "new citizens" and young people from a legislative perspective, providing policy support for the healthy development of the rental market. Overall, rent prices are expected to remain stable throughout the year.

Transportation and communication prices slightly decreased in the first half of the year

Finally, let's take a look at "Xing". According to the data released by the National Bureau of Statistics today, transportation and communication prices showed a downward trend from January to June.

From this trend chart, it can be seen that the transportation and communication prices in the first half of the year increased by about 2% year-on-year at the beginning of the year, and then decreased year-on-year in the second quarter, experiencing a trend of first rising and then falling. With the adjustment of China's epidemic prevention and control policies at the beginning of the year, the willingness of residents to travel has significantly increased, and the prices of air tickets, tourism, and transportation rental fees have generally increased. However, with the accelerated recovery of the transportation industry, the supply of transportation capacity has increased, and the increase in intercity transportation costs has declined.

The decrease in fuel prices was one of the factors leading to a decrease in transportation prices in the first half of the year. Affected by the overall decline in international commodity prices, international crude oil prices have shown a downward trend since the beginning of this year, driving down domestic oil prices. The average decrease in fuel prices for transportation from January to May reached 4.8%. By the end of June, it is expected that the decrease in fuel prices for transportation vehicles will narrow in the future due to changes in international market oil prices.

The decrease in transportation prices has to some extent driven down transportation prices. Since the beginning of this year, China's production of gasoline, diesel, and new energy vehicles has steadily increased. Various automobile consumption promotion activities have been carried out in various regions, and the active second-hand car market has been continuously implemented, resulting in a downward trend in transportation prices this year. In terms of transportation and communication prices, postal service prices have remained stable, with monthly increases of around 0.2%.