India’s Retail Inflation Rises To 3.21% In February, Up From 2.74% In January Under New CPI Series

Mumbai: India’s retail inflation increased slightly in February 2026, reaching 3.21 percent, according to data released by the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation (MoSPI).

The inflation figure is based on the new Consumer Price Index (CPI) series with 2024 as the base year. In comparison, retail inflation stood at 2.74 percent in January 2026, when the new CPI series was introduced.

This means inflation rose by 0.47 percentage points in February compared with the previous month.

Vegetable Prices Show Sharp Decline

Despite the increase in overall inflation, prices of several vegetables fell during the month.

The vegetable price index declined by more than 10 percent in February compared with January. Key vegetables that saw price drops included tomatoes, peas and cauliflower.

This fall in vegetable prices helped keep overall food inflation relatively moderate during the month.

Food And Housing Inflation Trends

According to the data, food inflation stood at 3.47 percent in February compared with the same month last year.

Meanwhile, housing inflation was estimated at 2.12 percent during the month.

Food and housing are among the major components used to calculate the overall Consumer Price Index, which measures the change in prices paid by consumers for everyday goods and services.

New CPI Series Introduced

The government has recently updated the base year of the Consumer Price Index from 2012 to 2024.

The revision was introduced for the first time in January 2026, using findings from the Household Consumption Expenditure Survey 2023–24.

The updated CPI index is now calculated with Base Year 2024 = 100, and the item basket and weightages have also been revised to better reflect current consumption patterns of households.

Officials said the revision aims to make inflation data more accurate and representative of present-day spending habits.

Large Data Collection Network

To calculate inflation accurately, the government collects price data from a wide network of markets across the country.

According to the official statement, real-time price data are collected from 1,407 urban markets and 1,465 villages across all states and union territories.

Field staff from the National Statistical Office (NSO) collect prices through personal visits on a weekly basis.

In February 2026, prices were successfully collected from 100 percent of rural and urban markets, with reporting levels reaching 99.89 percent in rural areas and 99.78 percent in urban markets.

Officials said the updated CPI system will help policymakers, businesses and financial institutions make better data-driven decisions.