India’s December retail inflation eases to 5.22% y/y as food price growth slows
2025.01.13 06:09
NEW DELHI(Reuters) -India’s annual retail inflation in December eased to 5.22% from 5.48% in the previous month as the rate of increase in food price slowed, according to government data released on Monday.
Annual retail inflation in December was lower than economists’ estimate of 5.3% in a Reuters poll.
Inflation in food items, which account for nearly half of the consumption basket, slowed to 8.39% in December from 9.04% a month earlier.
Vegetable prices rose 26.56% year-on-year in December, compared to a 29.33% increase registered in November and 42.18% in October.
Prices of cereals rose 6.5% from a 6.88% increase last month, while those of pulses jumped 3.83% compared to a 5.41% growth in the same period.
Core inflation, which excludes volatile items such as food and energy prices and is seen as a better gauge of domestic demand, was 3.6% in December compared to between 3.64% and 3.7% in November, according to two economists.
