India’s retail inflation rose to 3.93% in May 2026, while food inflation stood at 4.78%, according to the data released by the Ministry of Statistics & Programme Implementation on Thursday, 12 June.
The ministry said the year-on-year inflation rate based on the all-India Consumer Price Index (CPI), with base year 2024, was 3.93% in May 2026 over May 2025.
Retail inflation was 4.25% in rural areas and 3.53% in urban areas.
Food inflation, measured by the Consumer Food Price Index (CFPI), stood at 4.78% in May 2026.
The corresponding food inflation rates for rural and urban areas were 4.85% and 4.66%, respectively.
The May numbers were higher than April 2026, when retail inflation was 3.48% and food inflation was 4.20%, according to the ministry’s final figures for April.
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Housing inflation stood at 2.12% in May 2026. The ministry said housing inflation was 2.73% in rural areas and 1.91% in urban areas.
Among major divisions, personal care, social protection and miscellaneous goods and services recorded the highest inflation at 18.46%.
Restaurants and accommodation services recorded inflation of 5.75%, while food and beverages stood at 4.55%.
At the item level, silver jewellery recorded the highest inflation at 155.23% in May 2026, followed by tomato at 48.43%, gold, diamond and platinum jewellery at 40.93%, ginger at 32.49%, and raisin and monacca at 21.97%.
Potato recorded the sharpest fall in prices, with inflation at -23.71%.
Peas recorded inflation of -11.47%, motor car and jeep -7.19%, cumin -4.59%, and motorcycle and scooter -3.56%.
Among states with more than 50 lakh population as per the 2011 Census, Telangana recorded the highest inflation at 6.15%, followed by Tamil Nadu at 5.11%, Andhra Pradesh at 4.90%, Karnataka at 4.59%, and Odisha at 4.54%.
The ministry said real-time price data were collected from 1,407 urban markets, including online markets, and 1,465 villages across all states and Union Territories through weekly visits by field staff of the National Statistical Office (NSO), Ministry of Statistics & Programme Implementation (MoSPI).
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