GDP deflator
- How often
- Every quarterWith the GDP estimates, 4:00 PM: end of August, November and February
- Next release
- Mon 30 NovIn 17 days · 4:00 PM
- Base year
- 2022-23Constant prices of that year
April–June 2026, up from 0.6% in January–March 2026.
Events on this chart
Calculated by Clarity UPSC from NSO, MoSPI data, released 31 Aug 2026
- Previous
- 0.6%Q4 2025-26 (Jan–Mar 2026)
- Highest
- 10.6%Q1 2022-23 (Apr–Jun 2022)
- Lowest
- −0.9%Q4 2018-19 (Jan–Mar 2019)
Lower than 70% of the 57 readings since Q1 2012-13 (Apr–Jun 2012).
Story
How fast prices rose across everything produced in India, compared with the same quarter a year earlier.
What is happening now As of Q1 2026-27 (Apr–Jun 2026)
The Gross Domestic Product (GDP) deflator rose 2.3% in April–June 2026 over the same quarter a year earlier, up from 1.1% a year before. The National Statistics Office (NSO) estimates that nominal GDP grew 10.3% and real GDP 7.8% in the quarter; the gap between the two is the rise in prices.
That is far below the latest Consumer Price Index (CPI) inflation of 6.09% and Wholesale Price Index (WPI) inflation of 11.39%. First, those are later months: October for CPI and September for WPI. In the same April–June quarter, CPI inflation averaged 3.9% and WPI inflation 9.4%.
Second, the WPI rise was led by fuel and power, up 25–31% in those months, and fuel is mostly an input to other production. GDP counts the value added in India, so when inputs get dearer faster than outputs, the price of value added rises less or falls. NSO's estimates show manufacturing value added rising 7.7% at current prices against 9.2% in volume, a price fall of about 1.4%: the case NSO's press note describes for its double-deflation method. Imports, which GDP subtracts, were about 32% dearer than a year earlier.
Third, services are the largest part of output, and their prices rose slowly: financial, real estate and professional services, over a quarter of value added, rose about 0.5% in price. Fourth, net taxes on products fell 0.4% at current prices while rising 3.9% in volume, which keeps the GDP deflator (2.3%) below the deflator of Gross Value Added (GVA) at 3.0%.
In July–September 2026, CPI inflation averaged 4.9% and WPI inflation 10.4%; the deflator for that quarter is expected with the GDP estimate on 30 November 2026. For 2025-26 as a whole, the provisional estimates put the deflator's rise at 0.7%, after 2.0% in 2024-25 and 3.5% in 2023-24.
Why it matters
Nominal Gross Domestic Product (GDP) growth is roughly real growth plus the rise in the deflator. When the deflator rises slowly, nominal GDP grows slowly even if real output grows fast. Tax receipts, the fiscal deficit ratio and the debt ratio are all measured against nominal GDP, so slow price growth makes those targets harder to meet.
It covers more than the Consumer Price Index (CPI) and the Wholesale Price Index (WPI). It includes services, investment goods and government output, and its weights follow what the economy produces in each period. It leaves out imported goods, which the CPI includes when households buy them.
What it is
The Gross Domestic Product (GDP) deflator divides GDP at current prices by GDP at constant 2022-23 prices and multiplies by 100. It shows how much of the rise in the value of output comes from higher prices rather than from more output.
Its change from the same quarter a year earlier is a measure of inflation across all goods and services produced in India: what households, firms and the government buy, and what is exported.
The National Statistics Office (NSO) publishes GDP at current and at constant prices every quarter. It does not publish the deflator as a separate number; the deflator is implicit in the two estimates, which is why it is also called the implicit price deflator. The figure here is calculated from NSO's estimates.
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.
- Formula
- GDP at current prices ÷ GDP at constant prices × 100
- Published as
- Not a separate number: the ratio of the National Statistics Office's two GDP estimates, calculated here
- Frequency
- Quarterly and annual
- Release rule
- With the GDP estimates, 4:00 PM IST: end of August, November and February; the fourth quarter in early June
Terms on this page (5)
- CPI
- Consumer Price Index
- GDP
- Gross Domestic Product
- GVA
- Gross Value Added
- NSO
- National Statistics Office
- WPI
- Wholesale Price Index
History
- 2015GDP series with base 2011-12 begins; the deflator is calculated on that base until 2022-23.
- 2021-22With commodity prices high, the deflator rose about 8–9% a year, and 10.6% in April–June 2022 (2011-12 series).
- 2026New GDP series with base 2022-23 released on 27 February 2026. Manufacturing is measured by double deflation: output and inputs are deflated separately with producer price indices.
Readings
| Period | Value | Status | Released |
|---|---|---|---|
| Q1 2026-27 (Apr–Jun 2026) | 2.3% | Provisional | 31 Aug 2026 |
| Q4 2025-26 (Jan–Mar 2026) | 0.6% | Provisional | 31 Aug 2026 |
| Q3 2025-26 (Oct–Dec 2025) | 1.0% | Provisional | 31 Aug 2026 |
| Q2 2025-26 (Jul–Sep 2025) | 0.3% | Provisional | 31 Aug 2026 |
| Q1 2025-26 (Apr–Jun 2025) | 1.1% | Provisional | 31 Aug 2026 |
| Q4 2024-25 (Jan–Mar 2025) | 1.8% | Revised | 31 Aug 2026 |
| Q3 2024-25 (Oct–Dec 2024) | 2.2% | Revised | 31 Aug 2026 |
| Q2 2024-25 (Jul–Sep 2024) | 1.6% | Revised | 31 Aug 2026 |
| Q1 2024-25 (Apr–Jun 2024) | 2.7% | Revised | 31 Aug 2026 |
| Q4 2023-24 (Jan–Mar 2024) | 3.6% | Final | 31 Aug 2026 |
| Q3 2023-24 (Oct–Dec 2023) | 3.1% | Final | 31 Aug 2026 |
| Q2 2023-24 (Jul–Sep 2023) | 3.5% | Final | 31 Aug 2026 |
For UPSC
Know that the GDP deflator = nominal GDP ÷ real GDP × 100. Know that it covers all goods and services produced in India and excludes imports. Know how it differs from the CPI and the WPI in coverage, weights and frequency, and that nominal growth ≈ real growth + deflator inflation.