The annual inflation rate based on the all India Consumer Price Index (CPI) number stands at 4.83 per cent for April over the same month last year, the government data said on Monday.

According to the data shared by the Ministry of Statistics & Programme Implementation (MoSPI), the corresponding inflation rate for rural and urban areas was 5.43 per cent and 4.11 per cent, respectively.

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Among the top five groups, the year-on-year inflation on groups ‘Clothing & Footwear’, ‘Housing’ and ‘Fuel & light’ has decreased since last month, the data highlighted.

Food inflation, which accounts for nearly half of the overall consumer price basket, rose 8.70 per cent in April, compared with a 8.52 per cent rise in the previous month. Food inflation has been accelerating at over 8 per cent year-on-year since November 2023.

Further, the inflation rate for cereals was 8.63 per cent, compared with 8.37 per cent in the previous month and pulses rose 16.84 per cent, compared with 17.71 per cent in March. Vegetable prices rose 27.8  per cent in April.

Notably, the CPI inflation in March was at a 10-month low of 4.85 per cent. The inflation print for April is slightly above economists’ expectations.

The inflation rate has stayed within the Reserve Bank of India’s (RBI) tolerance range of 2-6 per cent .

Since December India has seen a gradual decrease in retail inflation. In December, it peaked at 5.69  per cent while in January and February, the inflation figures stood at 5.10  per cent and 5.09 per cent, respectively.

Further, March marked a significant downturn, with retail inflation dropping notably to 4.85 per cent.

In his recent speech while announcing the Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) decision, RBI Governor Shaktikanta Das revealed that the projected CPI inflation for FY25 stood at 4.5 per cent.

The price data are collected from selected 1,114 urban Markets and 1181 villages covering all States/UTs through personal visits by field staff of Field Operations Division of NSO, MoSPI on a weekly roster.

During April 2024, NSO collected prices from 99.9 per cent villages and 98.5 per cent urban markets while the market-wise prices reported therein were 89.8 per cent for rural and 93.2 per cent for urban.