India’s retail inflation rate for December eases at 5.22% from 5.48% in November, data from the Ministry of Statistics & Programme Implementation (MoSPI) said on Monday. The inflation has cooled slightly to a 4-month low.

The retail inflation, measured by the Consumer Price Index (CPI) in November, fell from a 14-month high of 6.21% in October.

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For December, the corresponding inflation rates for rural and urban areas are 5.76% and 4.58%, respectively.

Year-on-year inflation rate based on the All India Consumer Food Price Index (CFPI) for the month of December 2024 over December, 2023 is 8.39%.

Further, the year-on-year housing inflation rate for the month of December is 2.71%, as compared to 2.87% in November.

The data highlighted that during December, a significant decline in inflation is observed in Vegetables, Pulses & Products, Sugar and Confectionary, Personal care & effects, and Cereals and Products, etc.

Among the food items, peas led the surge with a staggering year-on-year inflation rate of 89.12%, followed by potatoes at 68.23%, garlic at 58.17%, coconut oil at 45.41%, and cauliflower at 39.42%.

The top five items showing highest year-on-year Inflation at the all-India level in December are Peas (89.12%), Potato (68.23%), Garlic (58.17%), coconut oil (45.41%) and Cauliflower (39.42%).

Further, the key items having lowest year on year inflation in December are jeera (-34.69%), ginger (-22.93%), dry chillies (-10.32%), LPG (excl. conveyance) (-9.29%).

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) aims to keep inflation within a range of 2–6%, with a medium-term target of 4%.

Recently, the MoSPI has released the Index of Industrial Production (IIP) which has reached a six-month high of 5.2% in November. The factory output during the same month in 2023 saw a growth of 2.5%.

The growth rates of the three sectors, Mining, Manufacturing and Electricity for the month of November 2024 are 1.9%, 5.8% and 4.4% respectively.