Food inflation up to 8.31% for week ended July 2

Snapping a two-week declining trend, food inflation rose to 8.31% for the week ended July 2 on the back of soaring prices of protein-based items, cereals and vegetables.

Food inflation, as measured by the Wholesale Price Index (WPI), rose by 0.70 percentage points during the week under review vis-a-vis the previous week. The rate of price rise in food items stood at 7.61% in the previous week, ended June 25.

As per data released by the government today, fruits and milk became 13.54% and 12.39% costlier, respectively, during the week under review. Prices of protein-based items like eggs, meat and fish went up by 11.95% annually.

Furthermore, cereals became 5.40% costlier, while vegetable prices were up by 2.25%. Prices of onions shoot up 30.72% on an annual basis.

Among the food items that saw some moderation in prices were pulses (down by 8.46%) and potatoes (down by 2.56%).

The latest numbers on the rate of price rise in food items are the lowest since the week ended June 11, when food inflation stood at 9.13%.

Meanwhile, inflation in overall primary articles stood at 11.58% for the week ended July 2, up from 11.56% in the previous week. Primary articles have a share of over 20% in the WPI basket.

Inflation of non-food primary items stood at 15.20% during the week under review, down from 17.69% in the previous week.

Prices of fibres were up almost 34%, while fuel and power became more expensive by 11.89% y-o-y. LPG became dearer by 14.58% on an annual basis.