July retail inflation marginally rises to 4.45% on higher food prices | Economy & Policy News

India’s retail inflation rose marginally to 4.45 per cent in July, from 4.38 per cent in June, as food prices increased, according to data released by the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation (MoSPI) on Wednesday.

 

The July inflation figure is based on the new Consumer Price Index (CPI) series with 2024 as the base year. Retail inflation had risen steadily from 2.74 per cent in January to 4.38 per cent in June before edging up further in July.

 

What pushed inflation higher in July?

 

Food prices were the main driver of the increase. Inflation based on the Consumer Food Price Index (CFPI) rose to 5.52 per cent in July from 5.32 per cent in June.

 
 

Food inflation was higher in both rural and urban areas. Rural food inflation stood at 5.79 per cent, while urban food inflation was 5.05 per cent. This was higher than 5.45 per cent and 5.09 per cent, respectively, in June.

 

Among food items, ginger and garlic recorded particularly sharp price increases in July. Ginger inflation rose to 83.62 per cent from 50.41 per cent in June, while garlic inflation increased to 35.36 per cent from 17.93 per cent. Onion inflation also climbed sharply to 22.54 per cent from 4.73 per cent in June.

 

At the same time, some food items became cheaper. Potato prices declined 16.56 per cent year-on-year, while lady’s finger, peas and tomatoes also recorded deflation in July.

 

How did rural and urban inflation move?

 

Inflation remained higher in rural areas than in cities. Rural retail inflation rose to 4.84 per cent in July from 4.74 per cent in June.

 

Urban inflation, meanwhile, increased only marginally to 3.96 per cent from 3.93 per cent in June. The wider gap between rural and urban inflation reflects the stronger increase in food prices faced by rural consumers.

 

Which other categories saw higher prices?

 

Food and beverages recorded inflation of 5.24 per cent in July at the combined level. Restaurants and accommodation services recorded inflation of 7.72 per cent, while personal care, social protection and miscellaneous goods and services saw inflation of 14.77 per cent.

 

Transport inflation stood at 4.43 per cent, while clothing and footwear inflation was 3.38 per cent. Housing inflation was relatively lower at 2.16 per cent.

 

Silver jewellery recorded the highest inflation among key individual items at 109.84 per cent in July, though this was lower than 133.24 per cent in June.

 

Which states saw the highest inflation?

 

Among states with populations exceeding 5 million according to Census 2011, Telangana recorded the highest combined inflation at 6.32 per cent in July.

 

It was followed by Andhra Pradesh at 5.72 per cent, Tamil Nadu at 5.44 per cent, Madhya Pradesh at 4.91 per cent and Karnataka at 4.89 per cent.

 

Delhi recorded combined inflation of 2.68 per cent, while Maharashtra’s inflation stood at 4.09 per cent. Uttar Pradesh recorded inflation of 4.74 per cent and West Bengal 3.89 per cent.