The consumer price index (CPI) rose 1.31 percent from a year earlier last month, marking the eighth consecutive month that inflation stayed below the central bank’s 2 percent target. The latest CPI data reflected a sharp decline in vegetable prices, even as costs for miscellaneous goods and housing continued to climb, DGBAS official Tsao Chih-hung (曹志弘) said. Core CPI, which excludes volatile items and is closely watched as a gauge of underlying inflation, rose 1.83 percent, driven mainly by higher service charges, he said. The producer price index (PPI), which measures price movements at the wholesale level, fell 2.57 percent year-on-year last month, little changed from a 2.61 percent decline the previous month. Full-year CPI grew 1.66 percent last year — the lowest in five years and the first time in four years that the annual inflation gauge came in below 2 percent, Tsao said.

Source: Taipei Times January 07, 2026 17:12 UTC