2026.03.1606:49:48UTC+00India Wholesale Inflation Rises to 1-Year High

India’s wholesale prices increased by 2.13% year-on-year in February 2026, up from 1.81% in January and slightly above market expectations of a 2% rise. This was the fastest pace of wholesale inflation since February of the previous year, largely reflecting a pickup in price pressures across primary articles and manufactured goods.

Inflation in primary articles strengthened to 3.27% from 2.21% in January, driven mainly by higher prices of food articles (2.19% vs 1.55%) and a sharp acceleration in non-food articles (8.80% vs 4.97%), the latter boosted by a surge in oilseed prices (25.38% vs 0.11%).

Price growth for manufactured products also edged higher, rising to 2.92% from 2.86% in January. Within this category, notable increases were seen in tobacco products (6.28% vs 1.38%), textiles (3.29% vs 2.48%), wearing apparel (2.14% vs 2.08%), and leather and related products (1.58% vs 0.78%).

By contrast, prices for fuel and power continued to decline, falling 3.78% year-on-year after a 4.01% drop in January. This reflected ongoing decreases in the prices of LPG (-4.63% vs -7.68%), petrol (-5.38% vs -4.58%), and high-speed diesel (HSD) (-3.72% vs -4.26%).

On a monthly basis, wholesale prices rose 0.25% in February, moderating from a revised 0.38% increase in January.