(Yicai Global) Jan. 11 -- China’s consumer inflation moved back into positive territory last month, after turning negative in November for the first time in 11 years, as the cost of pork pushed food prices higher ahead of the holiday season.

The Consumer Price Index, the main inflation gauge, rose 0.2 percent in December from a year earlier, according to data the National Bureau of Statistics released today. Twenty-one chief economists polled by Yicai Global expected deflation to persist, predicting an average 0.02 percent contraction.

The CPI fell 0.5 percent in November, the first monthly deflation since October 2009 after food prices dipped.

Pork prices have been a major driver of CPI growth over the past year. Prices of the meat fell 1.3 percent in December from a year earlier, but were 6.5 percent up on November.

The core CPI, which excludes food and energy prices, rose 0.4 percent year on year and 0.1 percent month on month.

For the full year ended Dec. 31, the CPI was 2.5 percent higher, matching the economists’ average forecast for a 2.49 percent gain. They predict tamer consumer inflation for this year, foreseeing a 1.2 percent increase. 

Editor: Emmi Laine