India’s retail inflation, measured by the Consumer Price Index (CPI), rose to 1.66 per cent in December 2025, from 0.71 per cent in November, according to the data released by the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation (MoSPI) on Monday.
The increase in headline inflation and food inflation during December 2025 is mainly attributed to an increase in the prices of items across personal care, vegetables, meat and fish, egg, spices, pulses and products.
India’s consumer price inflation picked up in November 2025, rising from October’s record low of 0.25 per cent. Despite the uptick, inflation remained below the Reserve Bank of India’s (RBIs) lower tolerance threshold of 2 per cent for the third straight month, as food prices continued to decline, driven by softer costs for vegetables, pulses, and spices.
In its latest monetary policy meeting held between December 3-5, the RBI 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.
