Food price inflation, which had hit 8.31% in April, eased a little to 7.97% in May
India’s retail inflation eased marginally to 7.04% in May from 7.79% in April, reflecting a persistent uptick of over 6% in prices paid by consumers for the fifth successive month.
Inflation faced by rural consumers fell from 8.38% in April to 7.01% in May, but for households in urban areas, the pace of price rise was virtually flat month-on-month, moving from 7.09% in April to 7.08% in May.
Food price inflation, which had hit 8.31% in April, eased a little to 7.97% in May thanks to a decline in rural food inflation from 8.5% to 7.76%. However, the Consumer Food Price Index surged further for urban India from 8.09% in April to 8.2% in May.
On a month-on-month basis, the Consumer Price Index was up 0.94% in May compared to April, while the Consumer Food Price Index (CFPI) rose 1.59%. Within the CFPI, the rural food price index rose 1.34% and urban prices rose 1.84%.
Fuel and light inflation eased slightly from 10.8% in April to 9.54% in May and inflation in Transport and Communication also fell to 9.54% from almost 11% in April.
Price rise in clothing and footwear also remained high at 8.85%, only one percentage point lower than May’s 9.85% rate. Inflation in footwear prices remained in the double digits at 10.72% (compared to 12.12% in April), while clothing inflation fell from 9.51% in April to 8.53% in May.
Inflation in Household goods and services as well as Miscellaneous items, which indicated that price rise pressures had become all-pervasive and generalized in April, moderated marginally from 7.97% to 6.85% and 8.03% to 6.82%, respectively, in May.
While inflation in food and beverages cooled only marginally from 8.1% in April to 7.84% in May, three sub-categories of food items clocked a further escalation – Vegetables, Meat and Fish, and Milk products. Vegetable inflation surged from 15.41% in April to 18.26% in May, while inflation in Meat and Fish moved up from 6.97% to 8.23%. The pace of increase in prices for milk and related products was mildly higher at 5.64% in May compared to 5.47% in April.
Six other sub-groups of food and beverages recorded a decline in the pace of price rise, led by edible oils and fats (13.26% in May from 17.28% in April), while pulses and eggs recorded negative inflation of 0.42% and 4.64% in May, compared to 0% and 1.86% in April, respectively.
Eleven of the 22 States and Union Territories, for which the National Statistical Office released disaggregated inflation trends, reported price rise at a faster pace than the All-India rate of 7.04%. The highest inflation rates were reported from Telangana (9.45%), Maharashtra (8.52%), Andhra Pradesh (8.49%), West Bengal (8.27%) and Jharkhand (7.51%).
Kerala continued to record the lowest inflation rate at 4.82% (from 5.08% in April), followed by Delhi (5.57%), Himachal Pradesh (5.63%), Tamil Nadu (5.72%) and Punjab (5.77%).
