Retail inflation crosses RBI target, at 4.38% India’s retail inflation rose to 4.38 per cent in June, up from 3.93 per cent in May, as higher food prices pushed up the overall Consumer Price Index (CPI), according to provisional data released by the ministry of statistics and programme implementation (MoSPI) on Monday.Food inflation, measured by the Consumer Food Price Index (CFPI), also accelerated to 5.32 per cent in June from 4.78 per cent last month. Rural areas continued to experience higher inflation than urban centres, with retail inflation at 4.74% compared with 3.92% in cities.

Food items, jewellery keep inflation elevated

Among individual items, ginger recorded the sharpest increase in prices, with inflation at 50.41 per cent year-on-year. Tomatoes also remained expensive, with prices up 31.92 per cent, while raisins registered 20.52 per cent inflation. Precious metals continued to witness strong price gains, with inflation in gold, diamond and platinum jewellery at 36.82 per cent and silver jewellery at 133.21 per cent.Meanwhile, housing inflation remained relatively moderate at 2.10 per cent in June.

Products that become cheaper

Despite the overall rise in inflation, several items continued to record lower prices than a year ago. Potatoes saw prices fall 20.3 per cent while peas were down 9.67 per cent. Prices of motor cars, jeera, and motorcycles and scooters also remained lower on a year-on-year basis.The government said price data for June was compiled using information collected from 1,407 urban markets and 1,465 villages, with a 100% response rate in both rural and urban areas. The next set of CPI data for July 2026 will be released on August 12, 2026.