India Wholesale Inflation Falls More Than Expected

India’s wholesale price inflation eased to 0.39% in May 2025, lower than the expected slight decline to 0.80% and down from 0.85% in April.

This marked the lowest reading since March 2024, as price growth moderated for food (1.72% vs 2.55% in April), hitting a nineteen-month low due to a sharp 21.62% drop in vegetable costs.

Manufacturing inflation also slowed to 2.04% from 2.62%, its lowest level since November 2024, reflecting softer increases in costs for most subcomponents, mainly paper and paper products (1.67% vs 2.10%), food products (8.45% vs 9.51%), and rubber and plastic products (0.94% vs 1.64%).

Additionally, fuel and power prices continued to decline (-2.27% vs -2.18%), driven by lower costs for petrol (-8.49% vs -7.70%) and HSD (-5.61% vs -5.04%).

Meanwhile, prices of primary articles dropped by 2.02%, following a 1.44% fall in April.

On a monthly basis, wholesale prices edged down by 0.06%, after a 0.19% decrease in the previous period.