Kerala falls to 6th in inflation rankings after a year on top; national rate increases to 3.40%

For the first time in over a year, Kerala has fallen out of the top five states with the highest inflation, recording 3.62 per cent in March, according to data released by the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation on Monday.

The figure marks a slight increase from February’s 3.50 per cent. Kerala had consistently topped the inflation charts through much of 2025, with the rate climbing to 9.49 per cent in December last year.

However, inflation in the state dropped sharply to 3.67 per cent in January following the Centre’s revision of the base year for calculating retail inflation from 2012 to 2024. The update also revised the Consumer Price Index (CPI) basket to better reflect current consumption patterns.

Under the new CPI series, Kerala has 335 weighted items in rural areas and 342 in urban areas, with a combined total of 345 items.

Since the revision, Telangana has emerged as the state with the highest inflation. In March, Telangana recorded an inflation rate of 5.83 per cent, followed by Andhra Pradesh (4.05 per cent), Karnataka (3.96 per cent), Tamil Nadu (3.77 per cent), and Rajasthan (3.64 per cent).

Kerala now ranks sixth, with rural inflation at 4.31 per cent and urban inflation at 3.06 per cent.

At the national level, CPI-based inflation rose to 3.40 per cent in March from 3.21 per cent in February. Food inflation also increased to 3.87 per cent from 3.47 per cent during the same period. Rural and urban inflation stood at 3.63 per cent and 3.11 per cent, respectively.