New Delhi. Retail inflation rate in India has reached the highest level in 2 years. According to the data released by the Ministry of Statistics and Program Implementation (MoSPI) on Thursday, India's retail inflation rate has increased to 6.09 percent in October. Retail inflation based on Consumer Price Index (CPI) was 5.54 percent in September. Earlier, in October 2024, inflation had crossed the limit of 6 percent and reached 6.2 percent. However, then the inflation data was released on the basis of the old series of CPI base year 2012. The new figure is based on the base year 2024.
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According to the ministry's data, the retail inflation rate in rural areas of the country in October was 6.63 percent. Whereas in urban areas it was 5.41 percent.
Retail inflation crossed RBI's upper limit
Due to the huge increase in food prices, this figure has crossed the Reserve Bank of India (RBI)'s upper tolerance limit of 6 per cent for the first time in two years. The central bank of India's medium-term inflation target is 4%, with a tolerance band of 2% to 6% on either side.
Whose prices increased more and which goods decreased?
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Retail inflation rate has increased due to increase in food items. Food inflation rate in October 2026 became 8.94 percent as compared to 7.74 percent in October 2025. The corresponding inflation rates for rural and urban areas are 9.09 per cent and 8.68 per cent respectively.
According to the data released by the ministry, the five commodities which have seen the highest increase in prices on an annual basis in October include onion (116.22 percent), garlic (60.74 percent), silver jewelery (52.39 percent), ginger (48.32 percent) and lemon (47.30 percent).
At the same time, the five commodities whose prices have seen the biggest decline on an annual basis during this period include potato (-14.24 percent), cauliflower (-10.57 percent), coconut (-5.60 percent), brinjal (-3.34 percent) and cabbage (-1.92 percent).
Which states have the highest inflation?
Besides, Tamil Nadu (7.29 per cent), Telangana (7.26 per cent), Andhra Pradesh (7.25 per cent), Madhya Pradesh (7.19 per cent) and Odisha (7.17 per cent) were among the top five states in the country in retail inflation in October.
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The Ministry informed that real-time price data is collected by field staff of the Field Operations Division of the National Statistical Office by personally visiting 1407 urban markets (including online markets) and 1465 villages in all States/Union Territories as per weekly roster. The response rate in both rural and urban markets during October 2026 was 100 percent.