Food became slightly costlier in the month of August as reflected in the retail inflation numbers, which show an increase from 1.61 per cent in July to 2.07 per cent in August.
With vegetables, meat, fish, and eggs becoming pricier, the rise in inflation in August this year came after a continuous fall in the consumer price index (CPI) for nine months since November, 2024.
Data released by the National Statistics Office (NSO) on Friday showed the annual food inflation in August 2025 was (-) 0.69 per cent while the inflation in the year-ago period was 3.65 per cent.
"An increase in headline inflation and food inflation during the month of August 2025 is mainly attributed to an increase in inflation of vegetables, meat and fish, oil and fats, personal care and eggs," NSO said.
The Reserve Bank of India has been mandated by the government to ensure that inflation remains at 4 per cent with a margin of 2 per cent on either side. The central bank mainly factors in the retail inflation while arriving at its bi-monthly monetary policy.
Also Read: WPI inflation in July turns negative
The latest data also showed the inflation figures in rural India showed an increase to 1.69 per cent in August from 1.18 per cent in July. In urban parts of the country, it was 2.47 per cent compared to 2.1 per cent sequentially.
Among the states, the highest inflation was in Kerala at 9.04 per cent and the lowest was in Assam (-0.66 pr cent).
Core inflation inched up marginally to 4.3 per cent in August 2025 from 4.2 per cent in the previous month, while remaining similar to the range seen during the last seven months.
Commenting on the data, Icra Chief Economist, Aditi Nayar, said the sequential uptick in year-on-year CPI inflation in August 2025 was largely driven by the food and beverage segment, which was flat compared to the year-old levels, after witnessing a deflation in each of the last two months.
"Looking ahead, despite the healthy trends in kharif sowing, large excess rains, and flooding in some parts of the country in late August 2025 and early-September 2025 could impact the kharif crop yields, and consequently output and prices, and thus, remain a key monitorable," she said.
The CPI data also showed that housing inflation in August stood at 3.09 per cent against 3.17 per cent in July.
NSO collects price data from selected 1,181 villages and 1,114 urban markets, covering all states/UTs.
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