Wholesale food inflation (WPI)
WPI = Wholesale Price Index- How often
- Every monthWith the WPI, 14th of the following month, 12:00 noon
- Next release
- Mon 16 NovIn 4 days · 12:00 noon
- Base year
- 2022-23 = 100
September 2026, up from 7.05% in August 2026.
Events on this chart
Source: OEA, DPIIT, released 14 Oct 2026 · Chart: Clarity UPSC
- Previous
- 7.05%Aug 2026
- Highest
- 14.14%Nov 2013
- Lowest
- −5.14%Oct 2025
Higher than 88% of the 162 readings since Apr 2013.
Story
Price rise of food goods at the wholesale stage.
What is happening now As of Sep 2026
Wholesale food inflation rose to 8.66% in September 2026, from 7.05% in August. A year earlier, in September 2025, it was −3.40%, meaning wholesale food prices were then lower than a year before. Both parts rose: food articles by 8.14% and manufactured food products by 9.44%.
The Office of the Economic Adviser (OEA) named food articles among the drivers of wholesale inflation in September. On 7 October 2026 the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) raised the repo rate by 0.25 percentage point to 5.50%. It pointed to supply pressure from a deficient monsoon and El Niño conditions, and to food price rises that had become more broad-based.
Why it matters
The Wholesale Price Index (WPI) food index shows what bulk buyers, traders and food processors pay for food, before shop margins and taxes are added. This is an earlier stage of the supply chain, so a rise here can show up later in the retail food prices that households pay.
Set beside the Consumer Food Price Index (CFPI), which follows retail food prices, it shows at which stage of the chain food prices are rising faster. Food processors, traders and caterers feel it directly in their costs.
What it is
The Wholesale Price Index (WPI) food index follows the wholesale prices of food. It joins two parts of the WPI: food articles from the primary articles group, such as vegetables and fruit, and food products from the manufactured products group.
In the 2022-23 series the food index carries 24.99% of the WPI: food articles 15.98 points and manufactured food products 9.02. The Office of the Economic Adviser (OEA) in the Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT) compiles it with the WPI. Prices are basic prices, which leave out net taxes and trade and transport margins.
Food articles make up nearly two-thirds of the index, so their prices carry most of its movement. The OEA started the index in 2017 to help monitor food prices alongside the Consumer Food Price Index (CFPI), the food index of the Consumer Price Index (CPI).
Read this number
- The publisher
- The Office of the Economic Adviser in the Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (Ministry of Commerce and Industry) compiles the WPI, the producer price indices and the core industries index.
Terms on this page (5)
- CFPI
- Consumer Food Price Index
- CPI
- Consumer Price Index
- DPIIT
- Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade
- OEA
- Office of the Economic Adviser
- RBI
- Reserve Bank of India
History
- 12 May 2017The Wholesale Price Index (WPI) Food Index begins with the base 2011-12 series, combining food articles and food products.
- 15 Jun 2026Moves to base 2022-23 with the new WPI series, from May 2026.
- 15 Jun 2026Producer Price Indices begin alongside the WPI, which will continue for five years and then stop.
Readings
| Period | Value | Status | Released |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sep 2026 | 8.66% | Provisional | 14 Oct 2026 |
| Aug 2026 | 7.05% | Provisional | 14 Sep 2026 |
| Jul 2026 | 6.56%revised from 6.65% | Final | 14 Oct 2026 |
| Jun 2026 | 6.23%revised from 6.14% | Final | 14 Sep 2026 |
| May 2026 | 4.58%revised from 4.49% | Final | 14 Aug 2026 |
| Apr 2026 | 3.29%revised from 3.11% | Final | 14 Jul 2026 |
| Mar 2026 | 1.92% | Final | 14 Oct 2026 |
| Feb 2026 | 1.27% | Final | 14 Oct 2026 |
| Jan 2026 | −0.36% | Final | 14 Oct 2026 |
| Dec 2025 | −2.53% | Final | 14 Oct 2026 |
| Nov 2025 | −3.61% | Final | 14 Oct 2026 |
| Oct 2025 | −5.14% | Final | 14 Oct 2026 |
For UPSC
The Wholesale Price Index (WPI) food index combines primary food articles and manufactured food products and carries 24.99% of the WPI (base 2022-23). Know how it differs from the Consumer Food Price Index (CFPI) of the Consumer Price Index (CPI): wholesale prices against retail prices.