Retail inflation climbs to 4.82% in August as food prices rise

India's retail inflation rose to 4.82% in August 2026, up from 4.45% in July, driven by a sharper rise in food prices, according to data released by the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation (MoSPI) on Monday.

Inflation based on the Consumer Price Index (CPI) stood at 5.23% in rural areas and 4.31% in urban areas during August. In July, rural and urban inflation stood at 4.84% and 3.96%, respectively.

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Food inflation also accelerated during the month. The Consumer Food Price Index (CFPI) recorded year-on-year inflation of 5.95% in August, compared with 5.52% in July. Rural food inflation increased to 6.13%, while urban food inflation stood at 5.64%.

The data showed significant differences in price movements across individual food items. Onion prices rose 48.27% year on year in August, while garlic inflation stood at 43.60% and ginger at 73.82%. In contrast, tomato prices fell sharply, recording a 31.09% year-on-year decline, while potato prices were down 13.14%.

Among major categories, food and beverages recorded inflation of 5.66%, while transport inflation stood at 4.60%. Clothing and footwear inflation was 3.56%, while housing, water, electricity, gas, and other fuels recorded inflation of 2.61%. Health inflation remained relatively subdued at 1.34%.

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Prices in restaurants and accommodation services, however, rose 8.38% year on year. Personal care, social protection, and miscellaneous goods and services recorded a much higher inflation rate of 15.17%.

Among individual items tracked by the government, silver jewellery recorded the steepest increase at 107.11%, followed by ginger at 73.82%, onions at 48.27%, garlic at 43.60%, and gold, diamond, and platinum jewellery at 35.53%.

The August numbers are based on the CPI series with 2024 as the base year. MoSPI said price data were collected from 1,407 urban markets, including online markets, and 1,465 villages across all states and Union Territories.

The CPI data for September are scheduled to be released on October 12.