Official definition · 官方定义
“Deflation is a decrease in the general price level of goods and services.”[1]
— Corporate Finance Institute, CFI Resource Library · corporatefinanceinstitute.com ↗ · accessed 2026-10-25
Deflation is a sustained fall in the general price level. It sounds like a discount, but it usually comes with weak demand, falling wages and debts that grow heavier in real terms.
通缩是整体物价水平的持续下降。听起来像全场打折，但它通常伴随需求疲弱、工资下滑，以及实际负担越来越重的债务。
Deflation turns a normal recession into a trap. A company that owes $100m earns less each year while the debt stays at $100m, so it cuts costs, which pushes prices down again. Central banks cannot cut rates below roughly zero, so the usual tool stops working. Japan's lost decades and the 1930s both showed how long the loop can last.
通缩会把一次普通衰退变成陷阱：欠 1 亿美元的公司每年收入都在缩水，债务却还是 1 亿，只能继续削减成本，价格又被压低一轮。
央行降息有零下限，常规工具失效。日本失去的几十年和 1930 年代都证明了这个循环可以持续多久。
Falling prices
One or two items falling is not deflation; it is the general level, sustained.
Good for consumers
Only if incomes hold. Usually wages fall too, and debt bites harder.
Same as disinflation
Disinflation is a slower rise in prices; deflation is an actual fall.
· fall into deflation
· deflationary spiral
· price deflation
· fight deflation
fall into deflation 陷入通缩；deflationary spiral 通缩螺旋；price deflation 价格通缩；fight deflation 对抗通缩。
· deflation vs disinflation
· deflation vs a one-off price cut
deflation 是持续下跌，disinflation 是涨幅收窄；一次性的降价促销不是通缩。
Prices fell X% from a year earlier, the first decline since Y.
价格句：价格同比下跌 X%，为 Y 年以来首次——「首次」往往比幅度更能说明性质。