Retail inflation eases to 4.75% in May

New Delhi: Retail inflation continued its downward slide to reach a one-year low of 4.75 per cent in May due to a marginal decline of prices in the food basket and remained within the Reserve Bank’s comfort zone of below 6 per cent, according to government data released on Wednesday.

The Consumer Price Index (CPI) based retail inflation -- on a declining trend since January -- was 4.83 per cent in April 2024 and 4.31 per cent in May 2023 (the previous low). Inflation in the food basket was at 8.69 per cent in May, marginally down from 8.70 per cent in April, according to the data released by the National Statistical Office (NSO).

The headline inflation has seen sequential moderation since January 2024, albeit in a narrow range from 5.1 per cent in February to 4.8 per cent in April 2024. According to the data released by NSO, all India inflation based on CPI is the lowest in May 2024 since the year-ago month when it was 4.31 per cent.