According to data released on Monday by the Ministry of Commerce and Industry, India’s wholesale price inflation increased to a 10-month high of 1.81% year-over-year in January, up from 0.83% in December. The price increases were mostly caused by increases in non-food and food articles, textiles, basic metals, and other manufactured goods.
From -1.0% in October to -0.13% in November, the Wholesale Price Index (WPI)-based inflation rate turned positive in December at 0.83% and continued to climb to 1.81% in January. In January 2025, the WPI inflation rate was 2.51%.
The inflation rate on the primary articles side (weight 22.62%) increased to 2.21%. After nine consecutive months of deflation, food article inflation finally returned to positive territory in January, when it was 1.55% year over year compared to -0.43% in December. Despite potatoes and onions continuing to be in negative territory, vegetable inflation increased to 6.78% year over year after 11 months of deflation.
Inflation in January increased to 1.41% year over year for the WPI Food Index (weight 24.38%), which includes food items from the primary category and food products from manufactured goods. December was a flat month.
Oilseeds contributed to a 19.3% increase in non-food items’ inflation, which increased sharply from 2.95% in December to 7.58% in January. Deflation in fuel and power declined from -2.31% in December to -4.01% year over year.
Inflation for manufactured goods (weight 64.23%) increased from 1.82% in December to 2.86% year over year. Month over month, the manufactured products index increased from 145.6 in December to 147.5 (provisional) in January, a gain of 1.30%. Inflation for basic metals increased significantly to 5.98% year over year, while that for textiles was 2.48%.
The National Statistics Office issued data last Thursday showing that retail inflation, as measured by the Consumer Price Index (CPI), increased to 2.75% in January, the first print under the updated CPI series with base year 2024. Precious metals like gold and silver jewelry and increased food prices were the main causes of this increase.
