Inflation in food articles was 1.98% in April, compared to 1.90% in March. In non-food articles, inflation rose to 12.18% during April, 11.5% in the previous month, data released by the commerce and industry ministry showed. File
| Photo Credit: The Hindu

In vegetables, deflation was 3.50% in December, compared to 20.23% in November. File
| Photo Credit: The Hindu

 According to WPI data, deflation in food articles was 4.16%in November, compared to 8.31% in October. File.
| Photo Credit: Reuters

Deflation in vegetables was 14.18% in August, as against 28.96% in July. File
| Photo Credit: The Hindu

A vendor arranging the pulses at a market, as the WPI stayed in negative territory for the second consecutive month at (-) 0.58% in July.
| Photo Credit: Sushil Kumar Verma

 Among food items, cereals, pulses, wheat saw easing in inflation in December. Representational file image.
| Photo Credit: Sushil Kumar Verma

Wholesale price inflation rose to 2.37% in December 2024, led by spike in manufactured products even though prices of food items eased, government data released on Tuesday (January 14, 2025) showed.

The Wholesale Price Index (WPI) based inflation was 1.89% in November 2024. It was 0.86% in December 2023.

Also read | Decoding India’s growth slowdown

As per the data, inflation in food items eased to 8.47% in December 2024, as against 8.63% in November. Inflation in vegetable stood at 28.65%, as against 28.57% in November.

Inflation in potato continued to be high at 93.20%, and in onion it spiked to 16.81% in December.

Among food items, cereals, pulses, wheat saw easing in inflation in December.

The fuel and power category witnessed a deflation of 3.79% in December, against a deflation of 5.83% in November. In manufactured items, inflation was 2.14%, against 2% in November.

Retail inflation data released on Monday showed that consumer price index (CPI) based inflation eased to 4-month low of 5.22% in December on easing food prices.

According to a latest data, potato prices rose 78.7%, up from 78.1% in September, while onion inflation halved from 78.8% to 39.25% in October. File photo
| Photo Credit: The Hindu

Inflation in India’s wholesale prices hardened from 1.84% in September to 2.4% in October, led by a well over two-year high spike in food prices to 11.6% from 9.5% in the previous month, as  per the data released on Thursday (November 14, 2024).

Also read:India’s middle class tightens its belt, squeezed by food inflation

Vegetable prices soared over 63%, compared with the 14-month peak inflation of about 49% recorded in September. Potato prices rose 78.7%, up from 78.1% in September, while onion inflation halved from 78.8% to 39.25% in October.

The Wholesale Food Index jumped 3% on a month-on-month basis. The Commerce and Industry Ministry attributed the rise in wholesale price inflation to an increase in prices of food articles, manufacture of food products, other manufacturing, manufacture of machinery & equipment, manufacture of motor vehicles, trailers & semi-trailers.

Inflation in manufactured products also picked up to 1.5% in October from 1% in the previous two months, while primary articles inflation more than tripled from August to touch 8.1%.

India’s wholesale prices dropped to 2.04% in July.
| Photo Credit: SUSHIL KUMAR VERMA

Inflation in India’s wholesale prices dropped from a 16-month high of 3.4% in June, to 2.04% in July, with the rise in food prices cooling to 3.55% from 8.7% a month earlier. However, month-on-month gains in food prices accelerated to 2.7% from 2.1% in June, the highest pace in at least six months.

Overall prices rose 0.84% in July compared to June levels, marking the sharpest sequential uptick since April, and primary articles prices rose 3.13% from June, which is again the sharpest pace in at least half a year, according to data released on Wednesday (August 14, 2024).

Also Read : Wholesale price inflation rises to 3.36% in June, highest in 16 months

In July 2023, wholesale prices had clocked a deflation of -1.23%. The decline in price rise in the food index in July was driven by vegetables whose prices fell 8.9% year-on-year, but that is relative to a 67.6% rise in prices recorded last July.

Eggs, meat and fish prices also fell 1.6% from last July, but there was no let up in most other food items’ price rise pace. Onion and potato prices rose a whopping 88.8% and 76.2%, respectively, while pulses were 20.3% pricier on top of a 9.6% rise reported last July.

Fruits were 15.6% costlier compared with a 10% decline last July. Cereals, paddy and wheat prices were up 9%, 11% and 7%, respectively, on top of similar price gains in the same month last year.

On a year-on-year basis, inflation in fuel and power accelerated to 1.7% in July from about 1% in the previous two months, while manufactured products also reported a higher uptick of 1.6%.

The Commerce and Industry Ministry attributed the positive rate of inflation in July, “primarily to increase in prices of food articles, manufacture of food products, mineral oils, crude petroleum & natural gas, other manufacturing etc.”

India’s wholesale prices rose 3.36% in June from a year earlier, government data showed on July 15, 2024. File
| Photo Credit: ANI

Inflation in India’s wholesale prices accelerated to 3.4% in June, the highest in 16 months, from 2.6% in May, led by a spike in food inflation to 8.7% and a near-doubling in the rise of manufactured products prices to 1.43%.

Pricier vegetables, cereals, and fruits spurred the rise in food prices paid by Indian consumers to a six-month high of 9.4% in June, escalating the headline retail inflation pace to a four-month high of 5.08% in June, from a revised 4.8% in May, as per data released on Friday.

Photo used for representation purpose only. A surge in cereal prices at a 12-month high enabled wholesale price inflation rise to a three-month high in March
| Photo Credit: Sushil Kumar Verma

India’s wholesale price inflation rose to a three-month high of 0.53% in March from 0.2% in February, with the food index rising 4.65%, primarily led by cereals prices surging at a 12-month high pace even as the inflation in paddy (11.7%), potato (53%) and onions (57%) accelerated.

Inflation in pulses and vegetables remained elevated at the wholesale level, at 17.2% and 19.5%, respectively, as per the Wholesale Price Index (WPI). Fuel and power as well as manufactured products continued to be in deflation mode, though the level of price declines from a year ago moderated to about 0.8% in March.

On a month-on-month basis, the WPI rose 0.4% — the first such uptick in four months, with the food index up 1.01% and primary articles rising 0.9%. Manufactured products and fuel and power categories were up 0.21% and 0.06%, respectively. The Commerce and Industry Ministry also revised the WPI for January 2024, raising the inflation rate for that month to 0.33% from 0.27% estimated earlier.

Within food articles, there was some relief at the wholesale level from eggs, meat and fish, whose prices slid 1.86%. This is in contrast to retail prices which rose more than 10% for eggs, and over 6% for meat and fish, last month. Milk inflation eased to 4.7% in March, from 5.5% in February, but wheat price rise almost trebled from 2.34% in February to 7.43% last month.

“Positive rate of inflation in March, 2024 is primarily due to increase in prices of food articles, electricity, crude petroleum & natural gas, machinery & equipment and other manufacturing, etc.” the ministry said in a statement.

For the full year 2023-24, wholesale prices remained in deflationary mode, averaging -0.7%, the lowest pace of price rise since 2015-16, said Sunil Kumar Sinha, senior director and principal economist and Paras Jasrai, senior analyst at India Ratings and Research. “While wholesale inflation in the fourth quarter averaged a one-year high of 0.4%, it was still good enough to provide succor to the corporates by keeping the input prices at moderate levels,” they noted. 

However, with the flare up between Iran and Israel, and the rise in crude oil prices beyond $90 a barrel, the firm expects the first quarter of 2024-25 to see an average rise of 2.4% in wholesale prices.

“International commodity prices are showing signs of increased pressure. Going ahead, continued escalation in international crude oil prices, heat wave conditions impacting electricity demand and vegetable inflation, remain key causes of concern,” said Bank of Baroda economist Sonal Badhan.