The Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation released the Consumer Price Index (CPI) data for March 2025, showing a significant drop in inflation. The year-on-year CPI inflation stood at 3.34%, the lowest recorded since August 2019, marking a 27 basis point decrease from February’s 3.61%.
📉 Sharp Decline in Food Inflation
The Consumer Food Price Index (CFPI) also saw a steep decline:
- March 2025 CFPI: 2.69% (from 3.75% in February)
- Lowest food inflation since November 2021
- Rural food inflation: 2.82%
- Urban food inflation: 2.48%
🔍 What Drove the Drop?
The decline is attributed to falling prices in:
- Vegetables
- Eggs
- Pulses
- Meat & Fish
- Milk & Products
- Cereals
📊 Inflation by Sector
- Rural Inflation: Dropped to 3.25% (from 3.79%)
- Urban Inflation: Rose slightly to 3.43% (from 3.32%)
- Housing Inflation: 3.03%
- Fuel & Light: 1.48% (up from -1.33%)
- Education: 3.98%
- Health: 4.26%
- Transport & Communication: 3.30%
🥇 Highest Inflation Items
- Coconut Oil (56.81%)
- Coconut (42.05%)
- Gold (34.09%)
- Silver (31.57%)
- Grapes (25.55%)
🥶 Lowest Inflation Items
- Ginger (-38.11%)
- Tomato (-34.96%)
- Cauliflower (-25.99%)
- Jeera (-25.86%)
- Garlic (-25.22%)
🔍 Methodology & Data Coverage
Data was collected from over 1,100 urban markets and 1,181 villages across all states/UTs by NSO field staff. The response rate remained high, ensuring accuracy in representation.
📅 Next release date: CPI data for April 2025 will be published on May 12, 2025.
For full data sets and annexures, visit www.cpi.mospi.gov.in
