India’s wholesale price inflation eased to 2.31 per cent in January 2025 as against 2.37 per cent in December 2024, government data showed on Friday. The wholesale inflation eased on moderation in food and fuel prices. It was 0.33 per cent in January 2024.
As per the data, inflation in food items eased to 5.88 per cent in January, as against 8.47 per cent in December 2024. Inflation in vegetables came down significantly to 8.35 per cent, as against 28.65 per cent in December 2024.
Inflation in potato continued to be high at 74.28 per cent, and in onion it spiked to 28.33 per cent in January.
The fuel and power category witnessed a deflation of 2.78 per cent in January, against a deflation of 3.79 per cent in December. In manufactured items, inflation was 2.51 per cent as compared to 2.14 per cent in December 2024.
Earlier, retail inflation continued the downward trend and fell to a five-month low of 4.31 per cent in January, mainly due to a decline in the prices of vegetables, eggs, and pulses.
The Consumer Price Index-based retail inflation was 5.22 per cent in December and 5.1 per cent in January 2024.
The previous low inflation was in August 2024 at 3.65 per cent. The Consumer Price Index has been on a decline since October.
The inflation in the food basket was 6.02 per cent in January, the lowest after August 2024 when it was 5.66 per cent.
There is a decline of 91 basis points in headline inflation of January 2025 in comparison to December 2024 and it is the lowest year-on-year inflation after August 2024, the National Statistics Office (NSO) data showed.
According to the data, the top five items showing the highest year-on-year inflation were coconut oil (54.2 per cent), potato (49.61 per cent), coconut (38.71 per cent), garlic (30.65 per cent), peas (30.17 per cent).
With PTI inputs