India’s July CPI inflation hits 19-month high at 4.45% as food prices remain elevated

India’s retail inflation rose to a 19-month high of 4.45% in July 2026, up from 4.38% in June, as food prices remained elevated, according to provisional data released by the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation (MoSPI) on Wednesday.

The July reading, based on the new Consumer Price Index (CPI) series with 2024 as the base year, marked the second consecutive month of acceleration in headline inflation. Rural inflation stood at 4.84%, higher than urban inflation at 3.96%. In June, rural and urban inflation were 4.74% and 3.93%, respectively.

The key pressure point remained food prices. Consumer Food Price Index (CFPI)-based food inflation rose to 5.52% in July from 5.32% in June. Rural food inflation was higher at 5.79%, while urban food inflation stood at 5.05%.

Among major items, ginger recorded the highest inflation at 83.62% in July, sharply up from 50.41% in June. Garlic inflation stood at 35.36%, while onion prices rose 22.54% year-on-year. Silver jewellery inflation was 109.84%, while gold, diamond and platinum jewellery recorded 32.98% inflation.

However, several food items recorded price declines. Potato prices fell 16.56% year-on-year in July, while lady’s finger and peas declined 5.52% and 5.27%, respectively. Tomato prices fell 4.59%, reversing a 31.92% rise recorded in June.

Services also continued to see price pressures. Inflation in restaurants and accommodation services stood at 7.72%, while transport services for goods recorded 7.77%. Education services inflation was 3.64%, with secondary education at 4.33% and higher education at 3.52%.

Housing inflation stood at 2.22% in July, with rural housing inflation at 2.80% and urban housing inflation at 2.01%.

“Inflation came in line with expectations. We continue to monitor the pace of rainfall and reservoir levels along with trends in crude oil prices and pass through of higher input prices. While core inflation remains benign for now, headline inflation is expected to trend higher above 5% from 3QFY27. We thus continue to see room for 50bp of rate hikes by the MPC in 2HFY27,” said Upasna Bhardwaj, Chief Economist, Kotak Mahindra Bank.

At the state level, Telangana recorded the highest combined inflation at 6.32%, followed by Andhra Pradesh at 5.72% and Tamil Nadu at 5.44%. Delhi’s combined inflation stood at 2.68%.

The July CPI data were compiled from 1,407 urban markets, including online markets, and 1,465 villages across states and Union Territories. The response rate was 100% in both rural and urban markets.