The National Statistical Office (NSO) has released the latest data, revealing a drop in India's headline retail inflation for October to 4.87%, down from 5.02% in September. This decline brings headline inflation comfortably within the Reserve Bank of India's (RBI)'s preferred range of below 6%. In contrast, the inflation rate stood at 7.56% in September 2022.
The NSO's data collection process encompasses a comprehensive survey, gathering price information from 1,114 urban markets and 1,181 villages across all states and union territories, carried out by the Field Operations Division of the NSO, Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation (MoSPI) through weekly visits.
Throughout October 2023, the NSO successfully collected prices from 99.8% of villages and 98.6% of urban markets. The market-wise price reporting rates were 89.0% for rural areas and 92.0% for urban regions.
The decline in retail inflation is welcomed news for the Indian economy and demonstrates the effectiveness of various fiscal and monetary policies implemented to stabilise prices and maintain economic growth.
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