Wholesale inflation at 0.52% in August vs deflation in previous month: 10 things to know

Domestic wholesale inflation stood at 0.52 per cent in August, marking a shift from a deflationary reading of 0.58 per cent the previous month. Increasing prices of food products, manufacturing an, non-food, non-metallic mineral products, and transport equipment drove inflation last month, according to an official statement.

Wholesale inflation -- or the rate of increase in the wholesale prices of select goods -- is measured with the Wholesale Price Index (WPI).

Wholesale food inflation

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Wholesale food inflation -- gauged with the WPI Food Index -- stood at 0.21 per cent in August, as against deflation (negative inflation) of 2.15 per cent in the previous month, according to official data.

The food index -- carrying a weightage of 24.4 per cent in the WPI -- comprises food articles from the primary articles group and food products from the manufactured products group.

Here are 10 things to know about the latest inflation data set:

• Inflation in primary articles came in at 1.6 per cent in August. This group carries a weightage of 22.6 per cent in the WPI.
• Within this group, inflation in non-food article stood at 2.92 per cent, minerals at 2.66 per cent and food articles at 1.45 per cent.
• On the flipside, deflation in crude petroleum and natural gas came in at 0.43 per cent.
• In the fuel and power category, carrying a weightage of 13.15 per cent in the WPI, inflation was measured at 0.69 per cent.
• Within this category, deflation in electricity and mineral oils was recorded at 2.91 per cent and 0.07 per cent, respectively, while coal rates remained unchanged as the previous month.
• In the manufactured products group, inflation was recorded at 0.21 per cent.

• This group carries a weightage of 64.23 per cent in the WPI.
• Out of the 22 national industrial classification (NIC) for manufactured items, 13 groups witnessed rising prices while five witnessed deflationary trends and four witnessed no change, according to the statement.
• WPI tracks price changes across different categories of goods. Within the manufactured products component, industries are classified as per the NIC at the two-digit level.
• "Some of the important groups that showed month-over-month increases in prices were the manufacture of food products; textiles; electrical equipment; other transport equipment and machinery and equipment, etc. Some of the groups that witnessed a decrease in prices were manufacturers of basic metals; computer, electronic and optical products; wearing apparel; wood and products of wood and cork and furniture etc in August, 2025 as compared to July, 2025," noted the statement.