Retail Inflation Rises to 5.59% in December From 4.91% in November

High food prices accelerated India's December 2021 retail inflation rate on a sequential and year-on-year basis.

Data furnished by the National Statistical Office (NSO) showed that the Consumer Price Index rose to 5.59 percent last month from 4.91 percent in November 2021.

Similarly, on YoY basis, the rise in the last month's retail inflation was faster than the 4.59 percent rise recorded for December 2020.

The macroeconomic data assumes significance as retail inflation has almost reached the range limit of the Reserve Bank of India's set target of 2-6 percent. Region-wise, the Consumer Price Index (CPI) Urban rose to 5.83 percent last month from 5.54 percent in November 2021 and the CPI Rural spiked to 5.36 percent from 4.29 percent.

As per the NSO data, the rate of rise in the Consumer Food Price Index, which measures the changes in retail prices of food products, increased to 4.05 percent last month from 1.87 percent in November 2021 and 3.41 percent in December 2020.