Overview of the New Consumer Price Index (CPI) Series
The Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation (MoSPI) released the first data from the new Consumer Price Index (CPI) series in January 2026. This series incorporates an updated base year, expanded coverage, and revised weightings to better reflect current economic conditions and consumption patterns.
Key Changes in the New CPI Series
- Base Year Update: The base year has been updated to 2024 from the previous 2012.
- Increased Item Coverage:
- Total items covered: 358 (previously 299)
- Goods: 308 items (previously 259)
- Services: 50 items (previously 40)
- Expanded Data Collection:
- Rural markets: 1,465 (up from 1,181)
- Urban markets: 1,395 (up from 1,114)
- Includes data from 12 online marketplaces
- Revised Weighting System: Reflects changes in consumption patterns based on HCES 2023-24.
Changes in Weight Assignments
- Food and Beverages: Reduced to 36.75% from 45.86%
- Housing: Expanded to include water, electricity, gas, and other fuels, with a new weight of 17.67% (previously 10.07%)
- Additional Categories:
- Furnishings and Household Equipment: 4.47%
- Health: 6.1%
- Transport: 8.8%
- Information and Communication: 3.61%
- Recreation, Sports, and Culture: 1.52%
- Education Services: 3.33%
- Restaurants and Accommodation: 3.35%
- Personal Care, Social Protection, Miscellaneous: 5.04%
- Paan, Tobacco, and Intoxicants: Increased to 2.99% from 2.38%
- Clothing and Footwear: Reduced to 2.38% from 6.53%
Significance and Impact
The updated CPI aims to provide more accurate inflation measurements that align with current economic conditions and support effective monetary and fiscal policy decisions. The new series enables better tracking of inflation trends, assisting policymakers in formulating regulations that reflect the present market dynamics.
Data Accessibility
While historical index values are not available for direct comparison, MoSPI has provided a linking factor to calculate index values back to 2013.
