China's food prices rise in October, pork prices drop

Prices of pork in China fell for the first time in more than a year, after months of surging prices for the country’s most popular meat, CNBC reports.

Pork prices fell by 2.8 percent in October from a year ago, China’s National Bureau of Statistics said Tuesday. The drop was the first since February 2019, or more than a year-and-a-half ago.

Prices doubled last fall and continued their rapid rise into this spring as African swine fever killed swaths of pig herds in China. The pace of increase began to slow in the last few months.

The consumer price index climbed by 0.5 percent in October from a year ago, the statistics bureau said. Overall food prices climbed by 2.2 percent, with fresh vegetable prices rising by 16.7 percent. Beef and lamb prices also increased, up by 7 percent and 3.6 percent, respectively.