India’s annual retail inflation, measured by the Consumer Price Index (CPI), inched up to 2.07% in August 2025 from 1.61% in July. The figure, however, remained well within the RBI’s target band.
Food inflation trend
Food prices continued to stay in deflation for the third consecutive month, with the Consumer Food Price Index (CFPI) recording -0.69% in August. This compares with -1.76% in July and 5.66% a year ago. The uptick was mainly attributed to higher prices of vegetables, meat and fish, oils and fats, eggs, and personal care items.
Rural vs Urban inflation
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Rural inflation rose to 1.69% in August from 1.18% in July.
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Urban inflation increased to 2.47%, up from 2.10% in the previous month.
Sectoral inflation
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Housing inflation eased marginally to 3.09% from 3.17%.
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Education inflation fell to 3.60% from 4.11%.
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Health inflation declined to 4.40% from 4.57%.
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Fuel and light inflation eased to 2.43% from 2.67%.
Key item trends
The data also showed sharp divergences in specific items. Prices of vegetables dropped nearly 16% YoY, while oils and fats surged over 21%. Gold inflation touched 40%, whereas silver jumped more than 31%.
The statistics office noted that retail prices were collected from over 1,100 urban markets and 1,181 villages, maintaining a response rate above 99% for August.
The next set of CPI data will be released on October 13, 2025.