Key Highlights
- Retail inflation recorded at 2.75% in January 2026 under the new CPI base year 2024.
- Food price growth slowed to 2.13%, while housing price inflation stood at 2.05%.
- The updated CPI incorporates 358 weighted items, expanding from the previous 299.
- Classification now follows COICOP 2018, doubling consumption divisions from 6 to 12.
- Newly added items include online streaming services, CNG fuel, and babysitter services.
Detailed Insights
The Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation released provisional CPI data for January 2026, marking the inaugural report from the revamped index whose base year shifted from 2012 to 2024. Overall retail inflation eased to 2.75%, with rural and urban figures virtually identical (2.73% and 2.77% respectively).
Food inflation, measured by the CPI‑Food (CFPI), fell to 2.13% overall – 1.96% in rural areas and 2.44% in urban centres – indicating that essential commodities remained relatively stable. Housing inflation registered a modest 2.05% nationally, with a slight rural‑urban divergence (2.39% rural vs. 1.92% urban).
The methodological overhaul rests on the 2023‑24 Household Consumption Expenditure Survey, granting the index a more accurate reflection of contemporary household spending. Adoption of the COICOP‑2018 framework expanded the number of consumption categories from six to twelve, allowing finer‑grained analysis.
Item coverage broadened substantially: the basket now holds 308 goods and 50 services, up from 259 goods and 40 services previously, bringing the total weighted items to 358. Notable additions encompass rural housing, digital media subscriptions, value‑added dairy products, barley, pen drives, external hard disks, childcare services, exercise equipment, and cleaner fuels such as CNG and PNG. Obsolete items like VCRs, tape recorders, CDs, second‑hand clothing, and coir ropes were removed.
Key Concepts
- Consumer Price Index (CPI): A statistical measure that tracks price changes of a predefined basket of goods and services consumed by households.
- Base Year: The reference year against which all other price levels are compared; the new CPI uses 2024 = 100.
- COICOP 2018: International classification that organizes consumption into 12 purpose‑based divisions for more detailed inflation reporting.
- Weighted Item: Each product or service in the CPI basket carries a specific weight reflecting its share in total household expenditure.
- Household Consumption Expenditure Survey (HCES): A periodic survey that captures detailed spending patterns, forming the empirical basis for the CPI basket.