China's consumer price index (CPI), a main gauge of inflation, rose 3.1 percent year on year in September, up from 2.6 percent in August, the State Bureau of Statistics (SSB) said on Monday.

In the first nine months, CPI growth stood at 2.5 percent on average, well below the government's full-year target of 3.5 percent.

Food prices continued to be the biggest driver of the CPI. Last month, food prices rose 6.1 percent year on year. Vegetable prices increased 18.9 percent, while poultry and related product prices grew 6.6 percent along with grain prices four percent.

According to the SSB, the holiday effect along with droughts and floods in some areas of the country contributed to the increasing food prices.

Meanwhile, the prices of non-food products moved up 1.6 percent, according to the SSB. The housing price rose 2.6 percent, while fashion prices up 2.3 percent. Tourism price increased 4.9 percent among the service trades.

The SSB data also showed China's producer price index, which measures inflation at the wholesale level, fell 1.3 percent in September from a year ago.

Presented by Adam Justice