Why in the news?

  • Retail inflation in India edged up slightly to 0.7% in November 2025, rising from the record low of 0.25% in October 2025.

Retail Inflation

  • What is it?: measures the change in retail prices of goods and services purchased by households for daily consumption, based on a fixed basket of goods and services.
  • Assessment: Assessed using Consumer Price Index (CPI)

Consumer Price Index (CPI)

  • Base Year: 2012
  • Nodal Agency: Compiled by the National Statistical Office (NSO) under the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation (MoSPI) and released Monthly
  • Basket for CPI Calculation:
    • Food and beverages
    • Housing
    • Clothing and footwear
    • Fuel and light
    • Health, education, transport, etc.
  • Uses of CPI:
    • Primary inflation indicator for India
    • Used for Inflation targeting by RBI and Policy formulation by GoI
    • Monitoring price stability
    • Calculating real wages, salaries, and pensions

Source: The Hindu

 

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