Wholesale Price Index Surges To 2.37 Per Cent Despite Retail Inflation Hitting Four-Month Low

While the retail inflation eased in December 2024, wholesale price inflation increased to 2.37 per cent over December 2023, as per the government data.

The surge is attributed to an increase in prices of food articles, manufacture of food products, other manufacturing, manufacture of textiles and non-food articles etc.

In November 2024, the inflation based on the Wholesale Price Index (WPI) stood at 1.89 per cent. This was a significant increase from the 0.86 per cent recorded in December 2023.

According to the statistics, there was a slight decrease in food inflation to 8.47 per cent in December 2024, compared to 8.63 per cent in the previous month, November.

The inflation rate for potatoes remained significantly high at 93.20 per cent, while for onions, it saw a sharp increase, reaching 16.81 per cent in December.

Inflation saw a decrease in December for various food items, including cereals, pulses, and wheat. Meanwhile, inflation in manufactured goods was recorded at 2.14 per cent, slightly up from November's 2 per cent.

In December, the fuel and power sector saw a deflation of 3.79 per cent, compared to November's deflation of 5.83 per cent.

The consumer price index (CPI) based inflation, as per the retail inflation data unveiled on Monday, softened to a four-month low of 5.22 per cent in December, primarily due to a decrease in food prices.