Retail inflation rose to 5.54% in September, mainly due to costlier food items, according to government data released on Monday (October 12, 2026).

The Consumer Price Index-based inflation was at 4.83% in August.

The inflation figure for September is the highest in the new index series released in January.

Inflation in the food basket rose to 7.74% from 5.97% the previous month.

Last week, the Reserve Bank hiked the benchmark lending rate (repo) by 25 basis points to 5.50% amid inflationary concerns.