Beijing, Feb 18 (IANS): China's consumer prices rose for a third consecutive month in January due to rising food prices, signalling easing of deflationary pressure, official data showed on Thursday.

China's consumer price index (CPI), a main gauge of inflation, grew 1.8 percent year on year in January, up from a rise of 1.6 percent in December 2015, the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) said.

Food prices, which account for one-third of the CPI calculation, edged up 4.1 percent year on year while non-food inflation climbed 1.2 percent, mainly due to higher prices of medical care, clothing and entertainment, Xinhua news agency reported.

Month on month, consumer prices edged up to 0.5 percent.

The NBS said vegetable prices went up due to supply shortages during a cold January and that service prices had increased along with labour costs.

It was also revealed China's producer price index, which measures wholesale inflation, dropped 5.3 percent year on year in January, the 47th straight month of decline.