BEIJING — China’s consumer price index (CPI), a main gauge of inflation, rose 2.2 percent year-on-year in November, down from 2.5 percent in October, the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) said on Dec 9.

Food prices climbed 2.5 percent year-on-year, contributing to a 0.49-percentage-point increase of the overall CPI growth, the bureau said.

The price of pork continued to slump in November, down 1.1 percent year-on-year, dragging down CPI growth by 0.03 percentage points.

Prices for healthcare gained 2.6 percent year-on-year, and education, culture and entertainment rose 2.5 percent, while prices for housing, and transport and communication rose 2.4 percent and 1.6 percent, respectively, the NBS said.

Non-food prices saw a 2.1-percent gain year-on-year in November, slowing from 2.4 percent last month.

On a monthly basis, the CPI dipped 0.3 percent from October.

In the Jan-Nov period, the CPI gained 2.1 percent from the previous year, well below the government’s target ceiling of 3 percent for 2018, data from the NBS showed.

Data released on Dec 9 also showed producer price index (PPI), which measures costs for goods at the factory gate, rose 2.7 percent year-on-year in November, with the growth declining for five consecutive months.