Retail inflation rises marginally to 0.71% in Nov on higher food prices

November CPI-based inflation: The food inflation in November stood at -3.91 per cent, marking an increase from -5.02 per cent in October

India’s retail inflation, measured by the Consumer Price Index (CPI), rose to 0.71 per cent in November, from 0.25 per cent in October, according to the data released by the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation (MoSPI) on Wednesday.

 

The rise in the headline inflation in November is mainly due to higher prices of vegetables, eggs, meat and fish, spices, and fuel and light.

 

The headline inflation had continued its deflationary trend in the last two months after a slight increase in August, which marked the first monthly rise in inflation in 10 months.

Food inflation remains negative

The food inflation in November stood at -3.91 per cent, marking an increase from -5.02 per cent in October. The inflation rates for rural and urban areas stood at -4.05 per cent and -3.60 per cent, respectively.

 

Sector-wise CPI inflation

Housing inflation stood at 2.95 per cent in November, marking a marginal decline from 2.96 per cent in October 2025. The housing index is compiled only for the urban sector.

 

Even the other sectors, including education, health, and transport, reported a decline in inflation. The education inflation eased slightly to 3.38 per cent from 3.54 per cent in October. Even the health inflation moderated to 3.60 per cent in November from 3.81 per cent in October. Transport and communication inflation softened to 0.88 per cent in November from 0.94 per cent in October.

 

However, fuel and light inflation increased to 2.32 per cent in November from 1.98 per cent in October.

State-wise Inflation

In November, the highest inflation was recorded in Kerala at 8.27, unmatched by any other state, though it dipped from 8.56 per cent in October. The second-highest inflation was much lower, at 2.64 per cent in Karnataka, followed by 2.31 per cent in Jammu and Kashmir.

 

States that showed deflationary trends included Haryana, Madhya Pradesh, and Jharkhand, with Bihar recording the lowest inflation at -1.67; however, it rose slightly from -1.97 per cent in October. This was followed by Odisha at -1.29 per cent and Uttar Pradesh at -1.06 per cent.

RBI lowered inflation forecast in Dec MPC

In its latest monetary policy meeting held between December 3-5, the Reserve Bank of India reduced its overall inflation forecast for FY26 to 2 per cent from the earlier 2.6 per cent. The quarterly inflation for Q3 FY26 was estimated at 0.6 per cent.