The increase rate was 0.4 percentage points lower than the previous month. China's CPI rose 1.9 percent year on year in December last year, as freezing weather since November helped push up food prices.
Food prices went up 3.7 percent last month year-on-year, with non-food prices edging up 0.5 percent from a year earlier.
China's CPI advanced 0.6 percent in November 2009, ending nine months of decline.
China's CPI in January was 0.6 percent up compared with last December, with food prices up 1.8 percent month on month in January, said the NBS.
Ba Shusong, a renowned economist with the Development Research Center under the State Council, the government's think tank, said the central bank might raise the interest rate when the CPI increase exceeds 2.25 percent (the current one-year benchmark deposit rate), according to chinanews.com.cn.
Xinhua contributed to the story.
