Retail Inflation Falls Sharply To 4.35% In September On Decline In Food Prices

Retail inflation fell sharply to 4.35 per cent in September 2021 from 5.30 per cent in August 2021, mainly due to a major slide in food prices which came down to below one per cent levels to settle at 0.68 per cent in September - a free fall from 3.11 per cent levels seen in August 2021.

The noticeable slide in retail inflation in September 2021 was orchestrated by fall in prices of food items like eggs, meat & fish, fruits and vegetables.

The fall is all the more remarkable if compared to the September 2020 levels, when retail inflation as per Consumer Price Index (CPI) had sky rocketed to 7.27 per cent while food inflation went beyond the 10 per cent mark to reach 10.68 per cent.

This was the third consecutive month when CPI based inflation stayed below the 6 per cent mark. It was 5.59 per cent in July 2021 and 5.30 per cent in August 2021.

The fall in September retail inflation figures are in sharp contrast to May 2021, when it had touched 6.30 per cent, mainly due to supply chain disruptions owing to the second wave of the Coronavirus pandemic.

In June 2021, retail inflation was 6.26 per cent level.

Food inflation levels however have hit rock bottom levels in September as they went even below the 1 per cent mark, compared to 3.11 per cent in August 2021 and 3.96 per cent in July 2021.

Egg prices fell to 172.8 in September 2021 from 177.3 in August 2021, fruits too fell sharply to 156.8 in September from 161 in August 2021.

Similarly vegetables too came down to 162.2 September from 164.8 in August. Meat & fish fell from 204.4 in August to 204 in September 2021.