Inflation in China
In the year to August 2026, consumer prices in China rose 0.8%, up from 0.5% a month earlier. Since January 1993 prices have risen 181.2%, which means ¥100 then buys what ¥281.25 buys now, so the same basket of goods costs 2.8 times what it did.
Cumulative & Yearly Inflation
Inflation in China by year
Inflation is the change in that year's average prices against the year before, which is the figure usually quoted. The last two columns take ¥100 in January of that year and show what it is worth in August 2026, the most recent month on record. Only years measured in full are listed, so the year now running appears once it ends.
| Year | Inflation | ¥100 is now | Cumulative inflation |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2000 | 0.3% | 163.93 | 63.9% |
| 2010 | 3.2% | 135.38 | 35.4% |
| 2020 | 2.4% | 103.09 | 3.1% |
| 2024 | 0.2% | 101.11 | 1.1% |
| 2025 | 0.1% | 100.63 | 0.6% |
Every year from 1994 to 2025
| Year | Inflation | ¥100 is now | Cumulative inflation |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1994 | 24.3% | 232.24 | 132.2% |
| 1995 | 16.8% | 187.14 | 87.1% |
| 1996 | 8.3% | 171.69 | 71.7% |
| 1997 | 2.8% | 162.12 | 62.1% |
| 1998 | -0.8% | 161.64 | 61.6% |
| 1999 | -1.4% | 163.60 | 63.6% |
| 2000 | 0.3% | 163.93 | 63.9% |
| 2001 | 0.7% | 161.99 | 62.0% |
| 2002 | -0.7% | 163.64 | 63.6% |
| 2003 | 1.1% | 163.04 | 63.0% |
| 2004 | 3.8% | 157.98 | 58.0% |
| 2005 | 1.8% | 155.18 | 55.2% |
| 2006 | 1.6% | 151.71 | 51.7% |
| 2007 | 4.8% | 148.44 | 48.4% |
| 2008 | 5.9% | 138.59 | 38.6% |
| 2009 | -0.7% | 137.27 | 37.3% |
| 2010 | 3.2% | 135.38 | 35.4% |
| 2011 | 5.6% | 128.94 | 28.9% |
| 2012 | 2.6% | 123.34 | 23.3% |
| 2013 | 2.6% | 120.89 | 20.9% |
| 2014 | 1.9% | 117.94 | 17.9% |
| 2015 | 1.4% | 117.11 | 17.1% |
| 2016 | 2.0% | 115.02 | 15.0% |
| 2017 | 1.6% | 112.14 | 12.1% |
| 2018 | 2.1% | 110.54 | 10.5% |
| 2019 | 2.9% | 108.68 | 8.7% |
| 2020 | 2.4% | 103.09 | 3.1% |
| 2021 | 1.0% | 103.32 | 3.3% |
| 2022 | 2.0% | 102.31 | 2.3% |
| 2023 | 0.2% | 100.24 | 0.2% |
| 2024 | 0.2% | 101.11 | 1.1% |
| 2025 | 0.1% | 100.63 | 0.6% |
A short history of inflation in China
Reform-Era Overheating (1993 to 1996)
Chinese inflation peaked at 27.7% in the year to October 1994, and it was a consequence of the reforms rather than a failure of them. Deng Xiaoping's tour of the south in 1992 restarted growth after several cautious years, local governments and state banks lent heavily into an investment boom, and the remaining administered prices were being freed at the same time, so goods that had been sold below cost moved to what the market would pay. The exchange rate was unified at a devalued level in January 1994, which raised import costs on top.
It was brought down by an austerity programme run from 1993 to 1996 that restricted credit and reined in provincial spending without stopping growth, an outcome unusual enough at the time to be described as a soft landing. Chinese inflation has been low ever since, and the country's more persistent difficulty has been the opposite one.
Post-Covid Inflation (2021 to 2023)
China came through it more lightly than most, prices rising no faster than 2.8%, in September 2022. It was the exception among the large economies, for reasons largely its own. It held to a zero-COVID policy until December 2022, so the reopening that released pent-up spending elsewhere in 2021 reached China a year later, and met a weaker economy when it did. By then the property sector, the principal store of household wealth, was contracting, and households were repairing their finances rather than spending. Beneath both sits a growth model directed at investment and export rather than consumption, which leaves Chinese households a smaller share of national income than their counterparts in richer countries, and consumer demand correspondingly weaker. The population began falling in 2022, for the first time since 1961. China's difficulty through this period was closer to Japan's than to Europe's: too little price growth rather than too much.
The major inflation events sets out the episodes behind most of the world's inflation.
Common questions about inflation in China
What is the current inflation rate in China?
Prices in China rose 0.8% in the year to August 2026. That is up from 0.5% a month earlier.
What would ¥100 in January 1993 be worth today?
¥100.00 in January 1993 has the same buying power as ¥281.25 in August 2026, a rise of 181.2%.
What would ¥100 in January 2000 be worth today?
¥100.00 in January 2000 has the same buying power as ¥163.93 in August 2026, a rise of 63.9%.
What would ¥100 in January 2010 be worth today?
¥100.00 in January 2010 has the same buying power as ¥135.38 in August 2026, a rise of 35.4%.
What would ¥100 in January 2020 be worth today?
¥100.00 in January 2020 has the same buying power as ¥103.09 in August 2026, a rise of 3.1%.
What is China's inflation target?
China targets 3%. The latest reading of 0.8% is running 2.2 points below it.
How inflation in China is measured
The figures on this page come from the IMF's CPI dataset, with the original data from National Bureau of Statistics of China. The series is indexed so that a chosen base year equals 100, and the calculator works out the ratio between any two dates you pick.
The currency shown is the Chinese yuan (¥). Coverage runs from January 1993 to August 2026, and updates automatically as each new release is published. Figures for the most recent periods can be revised by the statistics office after first publication.
Use this data
Click the reference to select it.
Compare Inflation. “Inflation in China.” Figures for August 2026. https://compareinflation.com/inflation-in-china/
Download the full series (CSV) — 404 months, January 1993 to August 2026, with the annual rate for each.