India’s wholesale price inflation at a 9-month high of 0.73% in December
15 Jan 2024
Wholesale price inflation in India, based on the wholesale price index (WPI), stood at a nine-month high of 0.73 per cent in December 2023, preliminary data released by the commerce ministry on Monday showed.
The annual rate of inflation based on the wholesale price index stood at 0.26 per cent in December 2023 against 5.02 per cent in December 2022.
It is the second consecutive month that India’s wholesale price inflation has moved above the negative levels seen for most of the year 2023. The average WPI inflation for the year stood at (-)1.1 per cent.
The spike in WPI inflation was driven by a highly unfavourable base effect. In December 2022, the all-commodity index of the WPI had contracted by 1.3 per cent compared to the previous month.
In December 2023, the prices of all three major groups that form the WPI were lower compared to the previous month. The index for the primary articles group was down 2.1 per cent compared to the previous month while the index for the fuel and power group was down 0.71 per cent and that of the manufactured products group down 0.21 per cent.
The all-commodity index was down 0.85 per cent MoM, while the food index was down 1.75 per cent compared to November 2023 when prices of vegetables, fruits, eggs, meat, fish, and pulses were lower.
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