India's retail inflation for January increased to 6.52 percent in January as against 5.72 percent in December 2022, according to data published by the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation on February 13.

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Retail inflation is measured by the consumer price index (CPI) which examines the changes in prices of most common consumer goods and services. It is calculated for a fixed list of items including housing, food, apparel, housing, transportation, medical care, electronics, education, among others.

Meanwhile, rural inflation stood at 6.85 percent, whereas urban inflation came in at 6 percent.

The January core inflation came in at 6.1 percent, same as last month. The Street had pegged it at 6 percent for January 2023.

Food inflation came in at 5.94 percent, as against 4.19 percent in December 2022. A CNBC-TV18 poll had pegged the consumer food price inflation at 5.9 percent.

According to Street estimates, the CPI in January was pegged at 6.1 percent.

While the CPI for December 2022 stood at 5.72 percent, in November it came in at 5.88 percent, against October's 5.59 percent.

"6.5 percent is beyond my expectations, and is definitely a negative news," said Rupa Rege Nitsure, Chief Economist, L&T Financial Services.

Reiterating the same, Upasna Bhardwaj, the senior economist at Kotak Mahindra Bank, said the CPI inflation number was clearly a negative surprise.

Earlier today, analysts told CNBC-TV18 that they expected the January Consumer Price Index (CPI) number to be higher than initial expectations and it may not have been priced in yet by the market.

First Published:Feb 13, 2023 5:38 PM IST