For the month of July 2026, Retail inflation saw a marginal increase to 4.45% in July 2026 from 4.38% in June as inflation for food products drove prices higher. According to the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation (MoSPI) on August 12th showed an increase in the inflation of food products in both rural and urban regions. The figures for July 2026 were based on the revised Consumer Price Index (CPI) with 2024 being its base year. This was after the steady rise in retail inflation from 2.75% in January to 4.38% in June.
What Caused the Increase in Inflation for July?
Food inflation was largely responsible for the increase in retail inflation in July. The Consumer Food Price Index (CFPI) showed inflation of 5.52% in July compared to 5.32% in June.
Several vegetables and food items saw their prices increase year-on-year. For example, ginger witnessed an inflation rate of 83.62%, compared to 50.41% in June. The inflation of garlic went up to 35.36% from 17.93% while the price inflation of onions also rose from 4.73% to 22.54%.
However, not all food products increased in prices in July. Prices of potatoes fell 16.56% year-on-year while lady’s finger, peas and tomatoes recorded deflation during the month.
Rural And Urban Inflation Move Differently
There is considerable higher rural inflation in India than urban inflation.
The rural retail inflation rate rose to 4.84% in July as against 4.74% in June. The inflation rate for food products in the rural regions increased to 5.79% from 5.45%.
In urban regions, the retail inflation rate rose slightly to 3.96% from 3.93%. The urban food inflation rate increased to 5.05% from 5.09% in June.
The higher rural inflation is because of the fact that there is a stronger influence of changes in food prices on rural budget.
What Other Category Has Become Costlier?
Combined inflation for food and beverages in July was 5.24%. There is inflation in other consumption categories like services.
Restaurants and hotel services have an inflation of 7.72% and social protection/personal care/miscellaneous goods and services has an inflation of 14.77%.
The inflation rate for transport was 4.43% and for clothing and footwear was 3.38%. There is comparatively low inflation rate of housing at 2.16%.
There is a very high inflation rate of 109.84% in silver jewellery, which is lower than 133.24% in June.
States that Registered Maximum Inflation?
The rate of inflation varied significantly among different states. In those states having a population of more than five million according to the data of 2011 Census, Telangana had the maximum inflation of 6.32% in July.
These states included,
- Andhra Pradesh: 5.72%
- Tamil Nadu: 5.44%
- Madhya Pradesh: 4.91%
- Karnataka: 4.89%
On the other hand, Delhi had an inflation of 2.68%. The inflation in Maharashtra was 4.09%, while the inflations of Uttar Pradesh and West Bengal were 4.74.
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