Consumer Price Index (CPI) Numbers for February 2025

The Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation (MoSPI) has released the Consumer Price Index (CPI) data for February 2025. The report highlights a decline in overall inflation, marking the lowest year-on-year inflation rate since July 2024. A significant drop in food inflation is also observed, particularly in rural areas. The following are the key highlights of the report.

Key Highlights

Overall Inflation

• Year-on-year CPI-based inflation for February 2025 stood at 3.61% (Provisional), down by 65 basis points from January 2025.
• It is the lowest inflation rate since July 2024.

Food Inflation

• The Consumer Food Price Index (CFPI)-based inflation is 3.75% (Provisional).
• Rural CFPI inflation: 4.06%, Urban CFPI inflation: 3.20%.
• A sharp decline of 222 basis points in food inflation compared to January 2025, making it the lowest since May 2023.

Rural vs Urban Inflation

• Rural inflation: 3.79% in February 2025 (down from 4.59% in January 2025).
• Urban inflation: 3.32% in February 2025 (down from 3.87% in January 2025).

Sector-wise Inflation Trends

• Housing Inflation: 2.91% (up from 2.82% in January 2025).
• Fuel & Light Inflation: -1.33% (improved from -1.49% in January 2025).
• Education Inflation: 3.83% (same as January 2025).
• Health Inflation: 4.12% (up from 3.97% in January 2025).
• Transport & Communication Inflation: 2.87% (up from 2.76% in January 2025).

Main Drivers of Inflation Decline

• Prices of vegetables, eggs, meat & fish, pulses, and dairy products witnessed a decline.

Top Five Items with Highest Inflation

• Coconut oil (54.48%)
• Coconut (41.61%)
• Gold (35.56%)
• Silver (30.89%)
• Onion (30.42%)

Top Five Items with Lowest Inflation

• Ginger (-35.81%)
• Jeera (-28.77%)
• Tomato (-28.51%)
• Cauliflower (-21.19%)
• Garlic (-20.32%)

Data Collection

• Price data collected from 1114 urban markets and 1181 villages across all States/UTs.
• 100% villages and 98.6% urban markets reported data.

Summary/Static	Details
Why in the news?	Consumer Price Index (CPI) Numbers for February 2025
Overall CPI Inflation	3.61%
Food Inflation (CFPI)	3.75%
Rural Inflation	3.79%
Urban Inflation	3.32%
Housing Inflation	2.91%
Fuel & Light Inflation	-1.33%
Education Inflation	3.83%
Health Inflation	4.12%
Transport & Communication Inflation	2.87%
Highest Inflation Item Coconut Oil	(54.48%)
Lowest Inflation Item Ginger	(-35.81%)