New Delhi: India’s wholesale inflation rate dropped to a 14-month low of 0.39 per cent in May 2025, down from 0.85 per cent in April, according to official data released on Monday.

This decline was largely driven by a broad-based easing in prices of food items, fuel, and manufactured goods.

The wholesale price index (WPI)-based inflation for food items slowed to 1.72 per cent in May from 2.55 per cent in April.

Key contributors included vegetables, whose inflation contracted sharply by 21.62 per cent, and onions, where the inflation rate dropped to 14.41 per cent from 0.20 per cent. Pulses inflation moderated to 10.41 per cent, while potatoes saw a deflation of 29.42 per cent.

Fuel and power inflation also contracted further to -2.27 per cent, as compared to -2.18 per cent in April. The inflation rate for manufactured products, which hold a significant weight in the WPI basket, rose modestly by 2.04 per cent. Meanwhile, primary articles saw a contraction of 2.02 per cent.

Economists noted that the easing was broad-based, with declines observed across food, fuel, and non-food manufacturing segments.

Rahul Agrawal, Senior Economist at ICRA, remarked that this widespread cooling had brought overall inflation significantly down.

On the retail side, the Consumer Price Index (CPI) also showed positive signs, easing to 2.82 per cent in May, its lowest level in over six years. In April, CPI inflation stood at 3.16 per cent, indicating a consistent downward trend.

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) had earlier projected a further decline in inflation during FY26, supported by easing food prices.

This development provides relief to households and strengthens the central bank’s outlook on achieving price stability.