India's annual retail inflation stands at 5.54% in September

New Delhi: India's headline inflation rose to 5.54 percent in September 2026 on an annual basis, provisional data released by the National Statistics Office (NSO) showed on Monday. The reading was higher than the 4.83 percent inflation recorded in August. The surge in retail annual inflation was driven primarily by skyrocketing food prices, data showed.

"Year-on-year inflation rate based on All India Consumer Price Index (CPI) with base year 2024 for the month of September, 2026 over September, 2025 is 5.54%(Provisional)," said the NSO data.

The provisional data released by the government showed, consumer inflation stood at 6.08 percent in September, compared with 4.88 percent in urban areas as against 5.24 (rural) and 4.31 (urban) in August.

Food prices continued to remain a key driver of inflation during the month. The all-India food inflation rate, based on the Consumer Food Price Index (CFPI) was at 7.74 percent (Provisional). Corresponding inflation rates for rural and urban are 8.06 percent and 7.18 percent, respectively.

The CPI (General) index for the combined category increased to 109.49 in September from 108.74 in August. Similarly, the combined CFPI index rose to 112.17 from 110.73 during the same period.

The NSO said real time price data are collected from selected 1407 urban Markets (including online markets) and 1465 villages covering all States/UTs. The response rate during September was 100 per cent in both rural and urban markets, ensuring comprehensive coverage of price movements.

The government will release the Consumer Price Index data for October 2026 on November 12, 2026, or the next working day if the scheduled date falls on a holiday, said Ministry of Statistics & Programme Implementation.