February CPI inflation stood at 3.21%, up from 2.75% recorded in January. On year-on-year (YoY) basis the headline retail inflation increased by 47 basis points. The February retail inflation data is the second reading under the new CPI series introduced by the government, with the base year revised to 2024 from the earlier 2012.
The Consumer Price of Index (CPI) stood at 104.57 in February from 104.45 in January.
Key highlights from CPI data
According to the government data released by the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation (MoSPI) Rural inflation in February stood at 3.37% and urban inflation stood at 3.02%.
Food inflation, measured by the Consumer Food Price Index (CFPI), stood at 3.47% in February from 2.13% recorded in January. Food inflation was 3.46% in rural areas and 3.48% in urban areas in February, according to MoSPI.
The report also noted that the Index of Tomato, Peas and Cauliflower saw a decrease of more than 10% in February, 2026 with respect to January, 2026.
The year-on-year housing inflation rate for February stood at 2.12% (provisional). The corresponding housing inflation rates were 2.43% in rural areas and 2.00% in urban areas.
Government revises CPI base year
According to the January CPI inflation data released by the government, under the new series, the weight of food and beverages in the CPI basket has declined compared with the earlier series. However, it continues to remain the largest component of the inflation basket.
The revised CPI basket gives greater weight to services such as housing, transport and communication, reflecting the growing importance of the services sector in household spending.
The price data used for the CPI is collected from over 1,400 urban markets and more than 1,400 villages across India.
The government releases CPI data every month for rural, urban and combined categories, along with indices for divisions, groups and individual items as well as state-level inflation data.