Retail inflation (CPI)
CPI = Consumer Price Index- How often
- Every month12th of the following month, 4:00 PM
- Next release
- Mon 14 DecIn 32 days · 4:00 PM
- Base year
- 2024 = 100
October 2026, up from 5.54% in September 2026.
Above the RBI's 2–6% bandEvents on this chart
Source: NSO, MoSPI, released 12 Nov 2026 · Chart: Clarity UPSC
- Previous
- 5.54%Sep 2026
- Highest
- 8.60%Jan 2014
- Lowest
- 0.25%Oct 2025
Higher than 79% of the 152 readings since Jan 2014.
Story
How fast the prices households pay are rising, compared with the same month last year.
What is happening now As of Oct 2026
Retail inflation rose to 6.09% in October 2026, from 5.54% in September. It is above the upper edge of the 2–6% band of the Reserve Bank of India (RBI). A year earlier, in October 2025, it was 0.25%, measured on the earlier 2012-base series. Rural inflation was 6.63% and urban 5.41%.
Food inflation reached 8.94%. The National Statistics Office (NSO) listed the highest inflation among key items for onion (116.22%), garlic (60.74%), silver jewellery (52.39%), ginger and lemon, while potato prices were 14.24% lower than a year earlier. Restaurant and accommodation services rose 10.06%, and housing, water, electricity, gas and other fuels 2.90%.
The RBI's Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) raised the repo rate by 0.25 percentage point to 5.50% on 7 October 2026 and changed its stance to "calibrated tightening". It said the rise in inflation up to August came mainly from food and fuel, and that core inflation (prices other than food and fuel) had also picked up. It expected supply pressure from a deficient monsoon, El Niño conditions and high energy prices, and projected CPI inflation at 6.0% for October–December 2026.
Why it matters
Retail inflation measures how fast the cost of living rises. When prices rise faster than incomes, the same income buys less. Families with small budgets feel it most, because food and fuel take a larger share of their spending. Savers lose too when the interest on their deposits is lower than inflation.
The Combined Consumer Price Index (CPI) is the number the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) must keep near 4%, within a band of 2–6%. The RBI's Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) sets the repo rate with it in view. When inflation runs high, the MPC can raise the repo rate. Banks then pay more to borrow, loan rates rise, and spending and price pressure slow down.
What it is
The Consumer Price Index (CPI) follows the retail prices of a basket of goods and services that households buy: food, housing, clothing, fuel, transport, health, education and more.
Each item carries a weight equal to its share in household spending. The current basket has 358 items, and food and beverages carry about 37% of the weight.
Retail inflation is the percentage change in this index from the same month a year earlier. The Combined CPI joins the rural and urban indices, and the inflation target of the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) is set on it.
Read this number
- The publisher
- The National Statistics Office is the statistics arm of the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation. It compiles GDP, CPI, IIP and the labour force survey.
- Basket
- 358 items: 308 goods, 50 services
- Food and beverages weight
- 36.75%
- Markets
- 1,465 rural, 1,395 urban, 12 online
- Target
- 4% (band 2–6%), to March 2031
- Release rule
- 12th of the following month, 4:00 PM IST; next working day if the 12th is a holiday
Terms on this page (5)
- MoSPI
- Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation
- MPC
- Monetary Policy Committee
- NSO
- National Statistics Office
- RBI
- Reserve Bank of India
- WPI
- Wholesale Price Index
History
- 2011The Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation (MoSPI) starts the Consumer Price Index (CPI) Rural, Urban and Combined, with base 2010.
- 2015Base revised to 2012.
- 2016The Combined CPI becomes the measure for the inflation target of the Reserve Bank of India (RBI): 4%, with a band of 2–6%.
- 2026New series with base 2024 from January 2026, first released on 12 February 2026. Weights come from the 2023-24 Household Consumption Expenditure Survey.
- 2026The 4% target with a 2–6% band is renewed for April 2026 to March 2031.
Readings
| Period | Value | Status | Released |
|---|---|---|---|
| Oct 2026 | 6.09% | Provisional | 12 Nov 2026 |
| Sep 2026 | 5.54% | Final | 12 Nov 2026 |
| Aug 2026 | 4.83%revised from 4.82% | Final | 12 Oct 2026 |
| Jul 2026 | 4.45% | Final | 14 Sep 2026 |
| Jun 2026 | 4.38% | Final | 12 Aug 2026 |
| May 2026 | 3.93% | Final | 13 Jul 2026 |
| Apr 2026 | 3.48% | Final | 12 Jun 2026 |
| Mar 2026 | 3.40% | Final | 12 May 2026 |
| Feb 2026 | 3.21% | Final | 13 Apr 2026 |
| Jan 2026 | 2.74%revised from 2.75% | Final | 12 Mar 2026 |
| Dec 2025 | 1.33% | Final | 12 Nov 2026 |
| Nov 2025 | 0.71% | Final | 12 Nov 2026 |
For UPSC
Know how the Consumer Price Index (CPI) and the Wholesale Price Index (WPI) differ: CPI covers goods and services and gives food a larger weight; WPI covers goods only. Know the 2024 base, the 4% target with its 2–6% band, and who publishes each price index.