The CPI inflation rate in February was 3.21%, up from 2.75% in January. The headline retail inflation increased by 47 basis points year over year (YoY). With the base year changed from 2012 to 2024, the government’s new CPI series includes the February retail inflation data as its second reading.
The Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation (MoSPI) issued official data showing that urban inflation was 3.02% and rural inflation was 3.37% in February.
According to the Consumer Food Price Index (CFPI), food inflation increased from 2.13% in January to 3.47% in February. According to MoSPI, food inflation in February was 3.46% in rural and 3.48% in urban areas. From 104.45 in January, the Consumer Price Index (CPI) was 104.57 in February.
The index of tomatoes, peas, and cauliflower decreased by more than 10% in February 2026 compared to January 2026, according to the research. February’s year-over-year home inflation rate was 2.12% (provisional). The comparable rates of home inflation in rural and urban areas were 2.43% and 2.00%, respectively.
Services such as housing, transportation, and communication carry greater weight in the updated CPI basket, reflecting the services sector’s increasing significance in household spending.
The government’s January CPI inflation data shows that, in comparison to the previous series, the weight of food and beverages in the CPI basket has decreased under the new series. It still makes up the majority of the inflation basket, though.
More than 1,400 metropolitan marketplaces and more than 1,400 villages throughout India provide the price data needed for the CPI. Every month, the government distributes state-level inflation data, indices for divisions, groupings, and individual products, as well as CPI data for rural, urban, and combination categories.
