China's consumer price index dropped 1.3 percent in April from the same month last year, an even bigger decrease than the 0.8 percent drop in March, the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) said Thursday.
According to a NBS monthly report, the price level slipped 0.7 percent for January-April on an annual basis, compared with a dropof 0.6 percent for the first quarter of this year.
NBS figures show the number of provinces, municipalities and autonomous regions that had witnessed price drop increased from 23in March to 29 in April. The level of price drop in these places ranged between 0.3 percent to 3.4 percent, as compared with the discrepancy of 0.3 percent to 2.7 percent in March.
In a breakdown, the NBS said the prices of consumer goods, foodproducts and non-food products dropped by 2.1, 2.0 and 0.9 percent,respectively, year-on-year in April, while the prices of services rose 1.7 percent.
(Xinhua News Agency May 16, 2002)
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