NEW DELHI: The year-on-year consumer price index (CPI) inflation rate for Agricultural Labourers (AL) and Rural Labourers (RL) outpaced headline CPI inflation in September, reflecting the higher burden of price pressures on the lower-income strata in rural India.
According to Labour Bureau data, CPI-AL inflation rose to 6.30% in September from 5.18% in August. CPI-RL inflation was 5.98% in September, up from 4.83% in the previous month. CPI inflation for AL and RL was -0.07% and 0.31%, respectively, in September 2025.
Inflation prints for both AL and RL were higher than the general CPI inflation of 5.54% in September. Rural CPI inflation was 6.08% in September, higher than urban inflation of 4.88%.
Sequentially, prices also rose quicker for agricultural and rural labourers at 1% each from August, while general CPI had risen 0.7% month-on-month in September.
This shows that price pressures are hurting the lower-income strata more, driven by a surge in food inflation.
Food inflation for AL rose to 8.24% in September from 6.41% a month ago. For rural labourers, food inflation was 7.84% last month, up from 5.97% in August. Food inflation for AL and RL was also higher than the general retail food inflation of 7.74% in September.
While CPI inflation for AL has been higher than general retail inflation for the last five months, September was the first time this calendar year that CPI-RL was higher than headline inflation.
Rising inflation for agricultural and rural labourers threatens rural demand as higher price pressures eat into household purchasing power.
Rural households are already more pessimistic about the general economic situation, employment scenario, prices, and their own incomes, according to the Reserve Bank of India’s (RBI) latest Rural Consumer Confidence Survey.
Food inflation is expected to stay high in the near term because of the impact of the deficient and uneven monsoon and El Nino. Low reservoir levels also threaten the rabi crop output.
CPI for AL and RL are used to revise minimum wages for agricultural and rural labour in different states. These indices are based on data collected from a set of 787 sample villages across 34 States and Union Territories.
Source: The Financial Express
