Food inflation fell to a single-digit at 9.55% for the week ended August 27 after breaching the double-digit mark in the previous week, with prices of all items, barring pulses and wheat, going up on an annual basis.
Food inflation, as measured on the basis of the Wholesale Price Index (WPI), stood at 10.05% in the previous week. The rate of price rise of food items was 14.76% in the corresponding week of 2010.
As per data released by the government today, prices of pulses fell by 1.56% year-on-year, while wheat became cheaper by 1.04% during the week ended August 27.
However, other food items became more expensive during the week under review.
Onions grew dearer by 42.03% on an annual basis, while potato prices were up by 13.38% during the week under review.
Fruits became 16.57% more expensive and overall, prices of vegetables shot up by 22.42% on an annual basis in the week ended August 27.
More From This Section
The prices of eggs, meat and fish were up 7.26%, while milk and cereals became dearer by 9.12% and 5.45%, respectively.
The fall in food inflation could be attributed to a moderation in the rate of price rise of some of the items on a week-on-week basis, even though they continued to go up.
In the previous week ended July 30, the rate of price rise of items like onions, vegetables, milk and cereals was more on an annual basis in comparison to the week under review.
The decline could also be attributed to the high inflation rate of over 14% in the corresponding year-ago period, a phenomenon dubbed the 'high base effect' in economic parlance.