Inflation started rising again in the country, retail inflation reached 3.65 percent in August

Signs of rising retail inflation are again visible in India. On Thursday, the government presented retail inflation figures based on the Consumer Price Index. In August 2024, it has increased marginally as compared to July 2024. 

The retail inflation rate in August 2024 was 3.65 percent. The most important thing in this is that now the inflation rate in rural areas of the country is higher than in cities, that is, the impact of inflation is falling more on poor people.

The Consumer Price Index (CPI) based inflation rate was 3.60 percent in July. However, compared to August 2023, now the inflation level has come down by about 50 percent, because inflation was 6.83 percent then.

Inflation has more impact on the poor

India's retail inflation figures point to another truth. That is, the level of inflation is high in rural areas. Whereas inflation in urban areas remains comparatively low. In August 2024, the rural inflation rate was 4.16 percent, while in urban areas it was 3.14 percent. In the previous month, in July 2024, rural inflation was 4.10 percent. While the urban inflation rate was 3.03 percent.

The same pattern is seen when compared to August last year. In August 2023, the rural inflation rate was 7.02 percent. While the urban inflation rate remained at 6.59 percent.

The kitchen budget is not decreasing

Food Price Index is a major part of retail inflation. Under the Food Price Index, the increase in the prices of food items in the country is assessed. Food inflation in the country was 5.66 percent in August. Whereas in July 2024 this figure was 5.42 percent. In August last year, the rate of food inflation was 9.94 percent.

If we look at food items, the prices of pulses and related products like gram flour etc. have increased the most in August 2024. Their inflation rate has been 14.36 percent.

Overall, in August, inflation remained below 4 percent for the second consecutive month. RBI has been given the task of keeping the inflation level in the country below 4 percent.

The pace of industry has also slowed down

The National Statistical Office also released data related to industry on Thursday. Due to the poor performance of the mining and manufacturing sectors in July this year, the growth rate of industrial production in the country slowed down to 4.8 percent. The Industrial Production Index (IIP) measures the production in factories within the country. It had increased by 6.2 percent in July last year.