 "India's retail inflation eases to 2.1% in June, lowest since Jan 2019")
India’s retail inflation, measured by the Consumer Price Index (CPI), eased to 2.1 per cent in June 2025, down from 2.82 per cent in May, according to data released by the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation on Monday.
This is the lowest year-on-year inflation recorded since January 2019, when the figure stood at 2.05 per cent, the ministry said. Inflation for June also remained below the Reserve Bank of India’s (RBI) medium-term target of 4 per cent, continuing a recent trend of subdued price pressures.
Food inflation turns negative in June
Food inflation, measured by the Consumer Food Price Index (CFPI), turned negative across both rural and urban areas in June. Rural food inflation stood at -0.92 per cent, while urban areas recorded -1.22 per cent, a significant drop from May figures of 0.95 per cent and 0.96 per cent, respectively.
The food inflation was also the lowest since January 2019.
“The significant decline in headline and food inflation in June 2025 is mainly attributed to the favourable base effect and a decline in inflation across categories such as vegetables, pulses, cereals, meat and fish, sugar, milk, and spices,” the ministry said in a statement.
Rural and urban inflation both ease
In rural areas, overall inflation fell to 1.72 per cent in June, down from 2.59 per cent in May. In urban areas, inflation eased to 2.56 per cent, compared to 3.12 per cent in the previous month.
Urban food inflation showed a steep drop, slipping from 1.01 per cent in May to -1.22 per cent in June.
Segment-wise inflation trends
Housing inflation rose marginally to 3.24 per cent in June, from 3.16 per cent in May.
Fuel and light inflation for rural and urban regions slowed to 2.55 per cent in June 2025 from 2.84 per cent in May.
Education inflation increased to 4.37 per cent (from 4.12 per cent).
Health inflation inched up to 4.43 per cent (from 4.34 per cent).
Transport and communication saw a minor rise to 3.90 per cent, up from 3.85 per cent in May.
Among states, Kerala recorded the highest year-on-year inflation in June at 6.71 per cent, with its CPI index rising to 213.1 from 199.7 in June 2024.
RBI FY26 inflation forecast
In its June bimonthly policy meeting, the RBI had revised its inflation forecast for 2025–26 (FY26) downwards to 3.7 per cent, with the first quarter (April–June) expected to average 2.9 per cent. The central bank projected inflation at 3.4 per cent for Q2, 3.9 per cent for Q3, and 4.4 per cent for Q4 in FY26.
Wholesale inflation eases in June
Meanwhile, India's Wholesale Price Index (WPI) inflation, announced earlier today, fell to -0.13 per cent in June from 0.39 per cent in May, registering its first negative reading in 2025. The decline was mainly due to falling prices in food articles, fuel and power, and basic metals.