Wholesale Inflation In Negative Territory For 7th Month On Easing Food Prices, At (-) 0.52%

Inflation in food articles eased to 2.53 percent in October as compared to 3.35 percent in September, official data showed.

New Delhi: The annual rate of inflation based on all India Wholesale Price Index (WPI) number was in the negative slope for the 7th straight month, official data released on Tuesday showed.

A Ministry of Commerce & Industry release showed that annual rate of inflation based on all India Wholesale Price Index (WPI) number stands at (-) 0.52% (Provisional) for October, 2023 (over October, 2022) against (-) 0.26% recorded in September, 2023. 

"The negative rate of inflation in October, 2023 is primarily due to fall in prices of chemicals and chemical products, electricity, textiles, basic metals, food products, paper and paper products, etc. as compared to the corresponding month of previous year," it added.

Inflation in food articles eased to 2.53 percent in October as compared to 3.35 percent in the previous month. Inflation in non-food articles was at -1.33 in October as compared to -2.38 in the previous month. 

The fuel and power basket inflation was at (-) 2.47 per cent in October, as compared to (-) 3.35 per cent in the previous month. In manufactured products, the inflation rate was at (-) 1.13 per cent, as compared to (-) 1.34 per cent in the previous month.

The data further showed that the month-over-month change in WPI index for the month of October, 2023 stood at 0.40% as compared to September, 2023.