Wholesale price inflation rose to 2.37 percent in December 2024, according to government data released on Tuesday, due to a rise in manufactured goods. This marks an increase from 1.89 percent recorded in November 2024 and 0.86 percent in December 2023.
“The positive inflation rate in December 2024 was primarily due to higher prices of food items, food product manufacturing, other products, textile manufacturing and non-food items,” the Ministry of Commerce and Industry said in a statement.
According to the data, inflation in food items eased marginally to 8.47 percent in December 2024 from 8.63 percent in the previous month. Vegetable inflation was 28.65 percent, slightly higher than November's 28.57 percent. Potato inflation remained high at 93.20 percent while onion rose to 16.81 percent in December.
Some food items such as pulses, pulses and wheat experienced a deceleration in inflation in December. Inflation in the fuel and power category was recorded at 3.79 percent, an improvement from November's 5.83 percent inflation. Inflation in manufactured goods rose to 2.14 percent from 2 percent in the previous month.
On the retail side, data released on Monday showed consumer price index (CPI)-based inflation eased to a four-month low of 5.22 in December, led by a drop in food prices.