Beijing, Oct 15 (IANS): China's Consumer Price Index (CPI), the most widely used measure of inflation, increased by 3 per cent year-on-year in September, 0.2 per cent more than in the previous two months and the largest hike since November 2013, the National Bureau of Statistics said on Tuesday.

As in earlier months, this inter-annual increase was driven by an increase in food prices, which rose 11.2 per cent, Efe news quoted the Bureau as saying in a statement.

This increase - 1.2 per cent over that recorded in August - was spurred by the higher price of meat, which rose 46.9 per cent year-on-year, as compared to 30.9 per cent the previous month.

The price of pork - the most popular meat consumed in China - jumped 69.3 per cent following a fall in production due to an outbreak of African swine fever.

However, the prices of fresh vegetables experienced a significant decline last month - 11.8 per cent year-on-year - while fruit rose 7.7 per cent.

The price of eggs increased by 9.4 per cent year-on-year in September, and that of water by 2.9 per cent.

Meanwhile, non-food prices climbed slightly by 1 per cent year-on-year in September, 0.1 per cent less than in the previous month.

Prices in the sectors of services, health and education, culture and entertainment, climbed 5.8 per cent, 2.2 per cent and 1.7 per cent respectively.

In contrast, transport and communications declined 2.9 per cent year-on-year, a 0.6 per cent drop over August.

The Bureau also unveiled the data of the producer price index (PPI), also known as the wholesale price index, which continued to shrink in September with a 1.2 per cent decline, which was even more pronounced than that in August, when it fell by 0.8 per cent.

The data released on Tuesday is in line with the 3 per cent inflation target set by the Chinese government for this year in March.