New Delhi: Retail inflation climbed to a three-month high of 1.33 per cent in December, driven largely by a rise in prices of select food items, even as it stayed below the Reserve Bank of India’s (RBI) lower tolerance level, according to data released by the National Statistics Office (NSO).
The Consumer Price Index (CPI)-based headline inflation had stood at 0.71 per cent in November, while it was 5.22 per cent in December 2024. Inflation was recorded at 1.44 per cent in September, showing a decline thereafter before rising again in December.
Food inflation, though still in the negative territory, inched up in December. It was recorded at (-) 2.71 per cent, compared with (-) 3.91 per cent in November, remaining negative for the seventh straight month.
“The increase in headline inflation and food inflation during the month of December 2025 is mainly attributed to an increase in inflation of personal care and effects, vegetables, meat and fish, egg, spices and pulses and products,” the NSO said while releasing the CPI figures.
Inflation in urban India was notably higher at 2.03 per cent, compared to 0.76 per cent in rural areas. Retail inflation remained below the RBI’s lower tolerance limit for the fourth consecutive month.
Under the inflation-targeting framework, the government has directed the central bank to maintain inflation at 4 per cent, with a tolerance band of 2 per cent on either side. Among states, Kerala (9.49 per cent) reported the highest inflation in December, followed by Karnataka (2.99 per cent), Andhra Pradesh (2.71 per cent), Tamil Nadu (2.67 per cent) and Jammu and Kashmir (2.26 per cent). In contrast, inflation was negative in Assam, Bihar, Haryana, Madhya Pradesh, Odisha, and Uttar Pradesh. The NSO gathers price information from 1,114 urban markets and 1,181 villages across all states and Union territories.