Wholesale inflation rises to 2.38% in Feb from 2.31% in Jan: Govt data

Wholesale price-based inflation in the country rose to 2.38% in February from 2.31% in January due to higher prices of manufactured food products, non-food articles, and textiles, according to government data released on Monday.

"The annual rate of inflation based on all India Wholesale Price Index (WPI) number is 2.38% (provisional) for the month of February, 2025 (over February, 2024)," the ministry of commerce & industry said in a release.

"Positive rate of inflation in February, 2025 is primarily due to increase in prices of manufacture of food products, food articles, other manufacturing, non-food articles and manufacture of textiles etc," it added.

On a month-over-month basis, the WPI showed mixed trends across major commodity groups. The index for primary articles, which holds a weightage of 22.62% in the WPI, declined by 1.74% to 186.6 in February from 189.9 in January. Prices of food articles, crude petroleum & natural gas, minerals, and non-food articles recorded a decline.

However, the index for fuel and power, which accounts for 13.15% of the WPI, registered an increase of 2.12% to 153.8 in February from 150.6 in January, mainly due to a rise in electricity and mineral oil prices.

Manufactured products, which constitute the largest share in the WPI with a weightage of 64.23%, saw a 0.42% increase in February. Out of the 22 two-digit groups under this category, 17 recorded a rise in prices, including other manufacturing, food products, basic metals, and chemicals, while two groups witnessed a decline.

Meanwhile, the WPI Food Index, which includes food articles from the primary group and food products from the manufactured products category, declined from 191.4 in January to 189.0 in February. The annual inflation rate based on the WPI Food Index eased to 5.94% in February from 7.47% in January.