India's retail inflation rises to 4.45% in July on food prices

India's retail inflation rose to 4.45 per cent in July 2026, up from 4.38 per cent in June, according to the latest Consumer Price Index (CPI) data released by the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation (MoSPI) on Wednesday.
The CPI-based inflation rate, calculated using the new 2024=100 base, stood at 4.84 per cent in rural areas and 3.96 per cent in urban areas, compared with 4.74 per cent and 3.93 per cent, respectively, in June.Food prices continued to exert upward pressure on inflation during the month. Inflation based on the Consumer Food Price Index (CFPI) rose to 5.52 per cent in July from 5.32 per cent in June.Rural food inflation stood at 5.79 per cent, while urban food inflation was recorded at 5.05 per cent.
Among the major expenditure groups, food and beverages registered inflation of 5.24 per cent. Restaurants and accommodation services recorded inflation of 7.72 per cent, while personal care, social protection and miscellaneous goods and services posted the highest inflation among major divisions at 14.77 per cent.
Transport inflation stood at 4.43 per cent, while clothing and footwear recorded inflation of 3.38 per cent. Housing inflation was recorded at 2.22 per cent in July, including 2.80 per cent in rural areas and 2.01 per cent in urban areas.At the commodity level, potato prices declined 16.56 per cent year-on-year in July, while tomato prices fell 4.59 per cent. Lady's finger and peas also recorded negative inflation of 5.52 per cent and 5.27 per cent, respectively.
On the other hand, silver jewellery recorded the highest inflation at 109.84 per cent. Ginger prices rose 83.62 per cent, while garlic registered inflation of 35.36 per cent, according to official data. Gold, diamond and platinum jewellery recorded inflation of 32.98 per cent, while onion prices increased by 22.54 per cent.
Among states and Union Territories with a population exceeding 50 lakh, Telangana recorded the highest combined CPI inflation at 6.32 per cent in July, followed by Andhra Pradesh at 5.72 per cent and Tamil Nadu at 5.44 per cent. Puducherry reported inflation of 5.41 per cent, while Madhya Pradesh recorded 4.91 per cent.The overall CPI index rose to 107.94 in July from 107.00 in June. The rural CPI increased to 108.34 from 107.24, while the urban CPI rose to 107.45 from 106.69.
According to the government, price data were collected from 1,407 urban markets, including online platforms, and 1,465 villages across all states and Union Territories. The response rate for data collection in July was 100 per cent in both rural and urban markets.The CPI data for August 2026 will be released on September 14.

(Business Correspondent)