The housing sector saw inflation easing to 2.86% in December 2025 from 2.95% in the previous month. Image used for representation purpose only.
| Photo Credit: The Hindu

A new series of CPI data with a base year of 2024 is scheduled to be released on February 12, 2026. File
| Photo Credit: Reuters

 According to the data released by the National Statistics Office, the food inflation declined to (-) 5.02% in October. File.
| Photo Credit: Sushil Kumar Verma

Retail inflation slipped to 1.54% in September mainly due to subdued prices of food items, including vegetables and pulses. (Image used for representation) 
| Photo Credit: Reuters

Potato is one of the top five items which showed highest year-on-year inflation at All India level in December 2024 at 68.23%.
| Photo Credit: ANI

India’s retail inflation eased a bit to a four-month low of 5.22% in December 2024 from 5.5% in November 2024, with food inflation cooling marginally from 9.04% in November to 8.4% last month, the National Statistics Office said on Monday (January 13, 2025).

The top five items showing highest year-on-year Inflation at All India level in December 2024 are Peas (89.12%), Potato (68.23%), Garlic (58.17%), coconut oil (45.41%) and Cauliflower (39.42%), the NSO pointed out.

Overall consumer prices were 4.6% higher in December for urban residents compared to 4.9% in November, while rural consumers faced a steeper price rise of 5.8%, just marginally below the 5.95% recorded in the previous month.

On a month-on-month basis, the Consumer Price Index (CPI) was down 0.56% in December while the Consumer Food Price Index (CFPI) was 1.5% below November’s number. Urban consumers saw a much more marked decline here as well, with a 0.62% dip in their CPI and a 1.73% fall in the CFPI. By contrast, the rural CPI was down 0.5% and food prices dipped 1.3% sequentially.

While food inflation had also cooled to a four-month low, marking the second month of deceleration from October’s 15-month high of 10.9%, some critical food items reported faster upticks in prices. This included edible oils and fats, whose prices rose 14.6%, up from November’s 30-month peak inflation of 13.3%.

Vegetables inflation moderated at a slow pace from 29.3% in November to 26.6%, while Fruit prices accelerated again by 8.5% after easing to a 7.7% pace in November. Cereals inflation stood at 6.5% in December, from 6.9% in the previous month.

Pulses prices rose 3.8%, relative to 5.4% in November, marking the slowest inflation in over two years. However, other protein sources such as eggs (6.85%) and meat and fish (5.3%) reported higher inflation in December, while milk price rise was virtually unchanged at 2.8%.

Among non-food items, personal care and effects’ inflation eased a tad to 9.7% from 10.4% in November, while education inflation was unchanged at 3.9%. Health inflation inched up fractionally to 4.05% in December.

New Delhi:

Retail inflation slowed to 5.48 per cent in November compared to 6.21 pc in October, mainly due to easing food prices, especially vegetables, according to government data released on Thursday.

According to Consumer Price Index (CPI) data released by the National Statistics Office (NSO), the inflation in the food basked reduced to 9.04 per cent in November. It was 10.87 per cent in October and 8.70 per cent in November 2023.

“During the month of November 2024, a significant decline in inflation is observed in vegetables, pulses and products, sugar and confectionary, fruits, eggs, milk and products, spices, transport and communication and personal care and effects subgroups,” the NSO said.

The CPI-based headline inflation increased from an average of 3.6 per cent during July-August to 5.5 per cent in September and further to 6.2 per cent in October 2024, the highest in more than a year since September 2023.

Last week, the Reserve Bank raised the inflation projection for the current fiscal to 4.8 per cent from 4.5 per cent. It also said that the lingering food price pressures are likely to keep headline inflation elevated in the December quarter.

Consumer price index (CPI)-based headline inflation increased from an average of 3.6 per cent during July-August to 5.5 per cent in September and further to 6.2 per cent in October 2024.

(This story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)

An official said that initiatives such as transportation through rail to various consuming centres from Maharashtra and the arrival of kharif onions in the market are likely to bring prices further down. File
| Photo Credit: The Hindu

As the prices of tomato, onion, and potato (TOP), the three essential vegetables in Indian households, remained high compared to last year, the Union government said in New Delhi on Thursday (November 14, 2024) that excess rainfall during this year has impacted the production of these commodities and pushed their prices upward. The Union Consumer Affairs Ministry also claimed that the price variation of the three items under the previous United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government was much higher when compared with the first 10 years of the Narendra Modi government.

The all-India average price of tomato, as on Thursday (November 14, 2024), was ₹52.35 for a kilogram; it was ₹39.2 per kilogram on November 14, 2023. In October, on the same date, the price of tomato was ₹67.5 for the same quantity.

Also Read: A vegetable triumvirate, inflation and the takeaway

In the case of potatoes, the prices were ₹37.48 for a kilogram on Thursday (November 14, 2024). Exactly one year ago, the price was ₹24.9 for a kilo, and the increase in one year is 50.52%. Last month, on the same date, the price was ₹37.08 for a kilogram.

An official of the Union Consumer Affairs Ministry said on Thursday (November 14, 2024) that the prices of tomato, onion, and potato are volatile due to seasonality in production and their susceptibility to climatic conditions. “The timely intervention by the government, such as the sale of tomatoes at a fixed price when the prices were surging and the release of onion buffer, have however helped in stabilising the prices of TOP, as is evident from the fact that on month-to-month variation as of November 13, the prices of tomatoes have declined by 21.4%, while the increase in prices of onions and potatoes has been brought down below the level of double digits,” the official said.

The official added that initiatives such as transportation through rail to various consuming centres from Maharashtra and the arrival of kharif onions in the market are likely to bring prices further down.

“The comparison in price variation of TOP during 2004-05 to 2013-14, and 2014-15 to 2023-24 indicates that there was a huge difference in the variation in prices growth. The price of tomato between the period 2004-05 and 2013-14 increased by 205.55%, whereas the increase was to the tune of  77.23% during 2014-15 to 2023-24. Similarly, during the same period, the retail price of onion experienced a growth of 291.38% as compared to 41.07%. The retail price of potato during 2004-05 to 2013-14 grew by 134% as compared to 0.01% during 2014-15 to 2023-24,” the official claimed, adding that the lower growth/variation in the prices of TOP during 2014-15 to 2023-24 is mainly on account of better price management by the government.

A 10.9% spike in food prices lifted India’s retail inflation to a 14-month high of 6.2% in October, from 5.5% in September, with prices of vegetables and edible oils escalating at a sharp pace not seen in recent years. 
| Photo Credit: Sushil Kumar Verma

A 10.9% spike in food prices lifted India’s retail inflation to a 14-month high of 6.2% in October, from 5.5% in September, with prices of vegetables and edible oils escalating at a sharp pace not seen in recent years.

October’s price rise pace marked a breach of the Reserve Bank of India’s (RBI’s) upper tolerance limit for inflation, with rural India facing a sharper uptick of 6.7%, while urban consumers encountered an inflation of 5.6%, scotching any hopes of an interest rate cut from the RBI in its December monetary policy review.

Rural food prices were 10.7% higher, while food inflation in urban India was even higher at 11.1% this October, with prices rising nationally at the fastest clip since July 2023. Vegetables Inflation bounced up from 36% in September to a 57-month peak of 42.2% in October, while edible oil prices shot up 9.5%, the highest spike in nearly two years, from about 2.5% in the previous month.

Fruit prices also hardened by 8.4%, although pulses inflation eased to 7.4%, after 17 months of double-digit rise in prices. Spices prices dropped 7%. In October, households also faced a sharp 11% rise in costs of personal care and effects, up from 9% in September.

Terming the consumer price inflation pace shocking, Bank of Baroda chief economist said food inflation has spread to oils, and the basket of cereals, pulses, fruits, vegetables and oils are the problem areas.

“Inflation may recede albeit gradually for cereals and pulses but will take longer for vegetables. Core inflation also has upward bias with personal care products showing higher inflation as input costs are transmitted,” he pointed out, stressing that this will ensure that a December rate cut is out of consideration.

The RBI had projected an average inflation of 4.8% for the October to December quarter or the third quarter (Q3) of 2024-25, before declining to 4.2% in the final quarter. However, for that arithmetic to hold after October’s CPI spike, price rise would have to soften to about 4.1% through this month and December.

Core inflation that excludes food and energy prices, also saw a mild rise from September’s estimated nine-month high of 3.8%, but remained under 4% for the 11th successive month, economists reckoned.

“The surge in edible oil inflation in October was driven by a steep 27% rise in global prices due to supply disruptions in Southeast Asia. Though non-food inflation remains benign around 3%, the recurring flare-up in food inflation has kept headline inflation elevated and creates an upside risk to the inflation trajectory – restricting the easing in monetary policy,” said Crisil chief economist Dharmakirti Joshi.

Mr. Joshi expects the RBI’s Monetary Policy Committee to cut rates towards the end of 2024-25, with food inflation likely to recede due to the healthy kharif sowing and fresh stocks of vegetable prices entering the market.

“High food inflation in October, 2024 is mainly due to increase in inflation of vegetables, fruits and oils and fats,” the National Statistical Office said, while noting a “significant decline in inflation” in Pulses, Eggs, Sugar, and Spices.

Compared to September, the CPI rose 1.3%, with a slightly higher uptick of 1.42% in rural India. However, the Consumer Food Price Index (CFPI) was up 2.6%, with rural and urban areas facing the same spike in costs.

Photo used for representation purpose only. File
| Photo Credit: Sushil Kumar Verma

India’s retail inflation shot back to a nine-month high of 5.5% in September, from 3.65% in August, thanks to a resurgence in food price rise to 9.24% after two months under the 6% mark.

For rural consumers, inflation neared the 6% mark at 5.87% while their urban counterparts faced a price rise of 5.05%. Rural India, however, faced a relatively milder food inflation of 9.1% compared with a 9.6% rise faced by urban consumers.

“It is likely that the increase in inflation rate for the month of September, 2024 is due to high base effect and weather conditions,” the National Statistical Office said, adding that a “significant decline in inflation is observed in Pulses and products, Spices, Meat & fish and Sugar & confectionery”.

On a sequential basis, the Consumer Price Index (CPI) was up 0.62%, while the Consumer Food Price Index was up 1.2% from August levels, with urban India seeing a sharper month-of-month uptick of 1.35% in food bills.

Vegetables inflation surged from 10.7% in August to 36% in September, while fruit price rise gained momentum to hit 7.65% from 6.5% a month earlier. Pulses prices rose 9.81%, retreating from a 10%-plus inflation pace for the first time in 16 months. Cereals and eggs inflation eased marginally to 6.8% and 6.3%, respectively.

Beyond food, households saw a sharp uptick of 9% in prices for personal care and effects in September. Prices for this category had risen 8.4% in July and eased a tad to 7.9% in August.