Retail inflation in India rose to 5.54% in September from 4.83% in August, its highest level this year, as food prices climbed sharply, according to data released by the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation (MoSPI) on 12 October.
Food inflation, measured by the Consumer Food Price Index, jumped to 7.74% from 5.97%. Prices rose faster in villages than in cities: rural inflation was 6.08% and urban 4.88%.
Prices have risen every month this year
| Month (2026) | CPI inflation |
|---|---|
| January | 2.74% |
| February | 3.21% |
| March | 3.40% |
| April | 3.48% |
| May | 3.93% |
| June | 4.38% |
| July | 4.45% |
| August | 4.83% |
| September | 5.54% |
What got costlier, and what got cheaper
Biggest price rises over a year earlier, in September:
- Onion: +108.09% (August: +48.78%)
- Silver jewellery: +87.80%
- Ginger: +62.85%
- Garlic: +54.62%
- Lemon: +36.41%
Items cheaper than a year ago included potato (−11.50%), tomato (−8.62%) and cars and jeeps (−4.51%).
By spending group, restaurants and accommodation rose 9.36%, food and beverages 7.36% and transport 5.01%, while health rose just 1.40%.
Where prices rose most
Among larger states, Tamil Nadu had the highest inflation at 6.81%, followed by Odisha (6.70%), Madhya Pradesh (6.68%) and Telangana (6.64%). Puducherry was highest overall at 6.86%. Delhi was at 3.40%.
What it means for loans
September's 5.54% is above the Reserve Bank of India's 4% target but within its 2–6% tolerance band. The RBI raised its repo rate to 5.50% on 7 October, according to widely published reports; the RBI's own money-market data for 29 October show its corridor rates at 5.25% and 5.75%, consistent with that level.
Read with care
The September figure is provisional and may be revised. The data use the new CPI series with 2024 as the base year. October's figure is due on 12 November.
Chart · India in Data
Inflation (consumer prices)
2.4
% per year · 2025
▼ −2.6 vs 2024
- India
- World
Source: World Bank, World Development Indicators · Checked 1 Nov 2026, 6:30 AM IST
How we verified this
VerifiedInflation figures are from MoSPI’s CPI release of 12 October 2026 (September provisional, August final), as reproduced in full by DD India; the MoSPI PDF link is the primary source (the site returned an error when we re-checked it). The repo rate of 5.50% is consistent with the RBI’s own 29 October operations data (MSF 5.75%, SDF 5.25%); the 7 October hike is as widely reported.
Sources
- 1.CPI press release for the month of September 2026 — Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation (MoSPI)
- 2.Retail inflation rises to 5.54% in September — DD India (Prasar Bharati)
- 3.Money Market Operations as on 29 October 2026 (policy corridor rates) — Reserve Bank of India
