Retail Inflation

Subject – Economy

Context – ‘India’s retail inflation likely accelerated in Nov. to 5.1%’

Concept –

The change in the consumer price index over a period of time is referred to as CPI-based inflation, or retail inflation.
The CPI is an index measuring retail inflation in the economy by collecting the change in prices of most common goods and services used by consumers.
The CPI is calculated for a fixed list of items including food, housing, apparel, transportation, electronics, medical care, education, etc.
The CPI specifically identifies periods of deflation or inflation for consumers in their day-to-day living expenses.

The CPI is used as a:

Macroeconomic indicator of inflation;
Tool by the central bank and government for inflation targeting and for inspecting price stability; and
Deflator in the national accounts.

Consumer Price Index in India

In India, there are four consumer price index numbers, which are calculated, and these are as follows:
CPI for Industrial Workers (IW)
CPI for Agricultural Labourers (AL)
CPI for Rural Labourers (RL) and
CPI for Urban Non-Manual Employees (UNME)
The Ministry of Statistics and Program Implementation collects CPI (UNME) data and compiles it but the remaining three are collected by the Labour Bureau in the Ministry of Labour.