BEIJING - China's consumer price index (CPI), the main gauge of inflation, grew 1.7 percent year-on-year in October, the National Bureau of Statistics announced on Friday.

The inflation eased from 1.9 percent registered in September and was below market expectations of 1.8 percent.

On a month-on-month basis, October's CPI fell 0.1 percent from the previous month, according to a statement posted on the NBS's website.

Food prices, which account for nearly one-third of the weighting in the calculation of China's CPI, rose 1.8 percent last month from one year earlier, which was down from the 2.5-percent increase in September.

China's producer price index (PPI), which measures inflation at the wholesale level, dropped 2.8 percent year on year in October. It marked the eighth straight month of decline after the PPI dropped in March for the first time since December 2009.

In the first 10 months, the CPI grew 2.7 percent year on year on average, showing a further decline from the 3.3-percent rise in the first half of the year.

Although the country is poised to meet its target of keeping inflation under 4 percent for the full year, analysts have warned of rising consumer prices in November and December as the cold weather will likely push up vegetable and meat prices.