🗞️ Why in News The Office of the Economic Adviser, Ministry of Commerce and Industry, released provisional Wholesale Price Index (WPI) inflation data for July 2026, showing a year-on-year rise of 9.78%, down marginally from 9.87% in June 2026.
The Numbers
Sub-index inflation for July 2026: Primary Articles 8.52%, Fuel and Power 20.05% (down from 27.41% in June), Manufactured Products 8.29%, and Food Index 6.65%. The all-commodities index stood at 110.0 in July, against 110.2 in June.
Background
The WPI uses 2022-23 as its base year (revised from 2011-12) and is released monthly by the Office of Economic Adviser. Unlike the Consumer Price Index (CPI), which is the RBI’s operational inflation-targeting metric under the Monetary Policy Committee’s flexible inflation-targeting framework (4% target, 2-6% band), WPI measures prices at the wholesale or producer level and does not directly drive monetary policy decisions.
The WPI-CPI Divergence
July’s WPI reading of 9.78% sits sharply above the same month’s CPI reading of 4.45%, a wide gap between producer-level and consumer-level price inflation, reflecting how fuel and energy cost pressures at the wholesale level have not fully passed through to retail consumer prices.
📌 Facts Corner, Knowledgepedia
WPI Inflation, July 2026:
- Headline WPI: 9.78% (June 2026: 9.87%)
- Fuel and Power: 20.05% (June: 27.41%); Primary Articles: 8.52%; Manufactured Products: 8.29%; Food Index: 6.65%
- All-commodities index: 110.0 (July), 110.2 (June)
- WPI base year: 2022-23; released by Office of Economic Adviser, Ministry of Commerce and Industry
- Contrast: July CPI was 4.45%, a wide WPI-CPI divergence
- RBI’s operational inflation target: CPI, not WPI, under the Monetary Policy Committee’s flexible inflation-targeting framework
Sources: Ministry of Commerce and Industry, Office of Economic Adviser
Source: WPI Inflation Eases Slightly to 9.78% in July 2026, Still Far Above CPI — Ujiyari.com | Free UPSC & State PCS Current Affairs
