(Yicai Global) May 12 -- China's producer price index, which measures the cost of goods at the factory gate, dropped 3.1 percent on the year last month due to the Covid-19 outbreak and declining global commodity prices, the country’s National Bureau of Statistics said today.

The drop was lower than chief economists surveyed by Yicai Global had predicted, with their average forecast for a 2.42 percent slide.

The PPI fell 1.3 percent last month on a monthly basis. It dipped 1.2 percent per year from January to April.

Editor: Ben Armour