India’s Retail Inflation Hits 4.82% In August As Food Inflation Surges To 5.95%

India’s retail inflation accelerated to 4.82 per cent in August 2026 from 4.45 per cent in July and 4.38 per cent in June, according to provisional Consumer Price Index (CPI) data released by the National Statistical Office under the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation (MoSPI).

The August reading, based on the new 2024 base year CPI series, showed inflation was higher in rural areas at 5.23 per cent, compared with 4.31 per cent in urban areas. In July, rural and urban inflation stood at 4.84 per cent and 3.96 per cent, respectively.

Food prices remained a key driver, with Consumer Food Price Index (CFPI) inflation rising to 5.95 per cent in August from 5.52 per cent in July. Rural food inflation stood at 6.13 per cent, while urban food inflation was 5.64 per cent.

The latest reading marks the eighth consecutive month of acceleration in headline inflation. It rose from 2.74 per cent in January to 3.21 per cent in February, 3.40 per cent in March, 3.48 per cent in April, 3.93 per cent in May, 4.38 per cent in June, 4.45 per cent in July and 4.82 per cent in August.

Among individual items, ginger recorded inflation of 73.82 per cent in August, while onion and garlic inflation stood at 48.27 per cent and 43.60 per cent, respectively. Silver jewellery recorded inflation of 107.11 per cent, while gold, diamond and platinum jewellery inflation was 35.53 per cent.

In contrast, tomato prices fell 31.09 per cent year-on-year, potato prices declined 13.14 per cent and motor cars and jeeps recorded inflation of -6.72 per cent.

The division-wise data showed personal care, social protection and miscellaneous goods and services recording the highest inflation at 15.17 per cent. Restaurants and accommodation services saw inflation of 8.38 per cent, while food and beverages recorded 5.66 per cent. Transport inflation stood at 4.60 per cent.

Inflation also varied sharply across states. Among states with populations above 50 lakh, Telangana recorded the highest headline inflation at 6.27 per cent, followed by Tamil Nadu at 5.92 per cent, Madhya Pradesh at 5.55 per cent, Andhra Pradesh at 5.53 per cent and Odisha at 5.52 per cent.

MoSPI said August price data was collected from 1,407 urban markets, including online markets, and 1,465 villages, with a 100 per cent response rate in both rural and urban markets.