India's retail inflation eases to 3.16% in April, lowest since July 2019: Govt data

India’s retail inflation eased to a near six-year low of 3.16% in April 2025, from 3.34% in March, driven by a sharp fall in food prices, official data showed on Tuesday.

The year-on-year inflation based on the All India Consumer Price Index (CPI) for April 2025 stood at 3.16%, an 18 basis points drop from the previous month.

This is the lowest recorded headline inflation since July 2019 and below the Reserve Bank of India's 4% medium-term target for a third straight month.

Food inflation fell to 1.78% in April 2025 from 2.69% in March, a sharp decline of 91 basis points and the lowest reading since October 2021.

According to the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation, the drop in overall and food inflation is primarily due to falling prices in categories such as vegetables, pulses and products, fruits, meat and fish, personal care and effects, and cereals and products.

The CPI-based inflation for rural India declined to 2.92% in April from 3.25% in March. Similarly, rural food inflation dropped to 1.85% from 2.82% over the same period.

In urban regions, headline inflation moderated slightly to 3.36% in April from 3.43% in March. However, food inflation saw a steeper decline, falling to 1.64% in April from 2.48% a month earlier.

Housing inflation, applicable only to urban areas, was recorded at 3% in April, marginally down from 3.03% in March.

With subdued inflation, the central bank has more room to cut interest rates to support a slowing economy.

The central bank has projected the CPI inflation for the financial year 2025-26 at 4%, with Q1 at 3.6%; Q2 at 3.9%; Q3 at 3.8%; and Q4 at 4.4%.