India’s key retail inflation rate rose to 2.75 per cent in January 2026, according to the latest Consumer Price Index (CPI) data released on Thursday.
This marks the first time since August 2025 that inflation has returned within the Reserve Bank of India’s (RBI) 2–6 per cent target band.
Under the old CPI series, inflation stood at 1.33 per cent in December and 0.71 per cent in November. The statistics ministry also released back-series data up to 2024 on Thursday due to the unavailability of readings for two months.
The January figure came in below market expectations and follows six of the past seven months where CPI inflation remained in the lower half of the RBI’s target range.
Retail inflation reached 2.75 per cent in January, while food inflation stood at 2.13 per cent.
Saurabh Garg, Secretary at the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation (MoSPI), attributed the rise largely to price volatility in the metals segment, particularly silver.
Silver jewellery recorded the highest all-India combined inflation at 159.67 per cent, while inflation in gold, platinum, and jewellery items remained elevated at 46.77 per cent. In contrast, inflation in most food commodities stayed moderate.
The weight of food items in the CPI basket has been reduced by nearly one-fifth, from 45.86 per cent to 36.75 per cent in the revised series.
Experts have highlighted high inflation and low profitability — driven by a surge in core inflation — as key factors behind “shrinkflation” observed in recent months, especially in food products.
Core inflation, which excludes volatile components such as food and energy, was estimated at around 4.6 per cent in December 2025 when overall retail inflation stood at 1.3 per cent.
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