BEIJING, Nov. 9 -- China's producer price index (PPI), which measures costs for goods at the factory gate, went down 2.6 percent year on year in October, the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) said Thursday.

On a monthly basis, the October PPI stayed flat, caused by price fluctuations of the international crude oil and non-ferrous metals as well as a high base in the same period last year, said NBS statistician Dong Lijuan.

The PPI for the oil and gas extraction industry grew 2.8 percent month on month in October, NBS data showed.

The October PPI for the non-ferrous metal smelting and rolling industry fell 0.2 percent month on month, while that for coal mining and beneficiation expanded by 3.4 percent.

The PPI for the new energy passenger vehicles edged up 0.1 percent in October, and that for the agricultural and sideline food processing industry went down 0.4 percent, according to the NBS.

The average PPI in the first 10 months of 2023 went down 3.1 percent year on year.