AirPods, pet food to be part of India's inflation measure
What's the story
India's Consumer Price Index (CPI) is getting a major overhaul with the addition of new items such as AirPods, pet food, sanitizers, fitness bands, and air purifiers. The revised CPI basket will be launched on February 12, 2026. The changes reflect evolving consumption trends in Indian households and the growing importance of health and lifestyle products.
Expansion details
Major changes in the CPI basket
The revised CPI basket has expanded from 299 to 358 weighted items. This expansion covers a wider range of services, tech-driven consumption, and personal care products. The inclusion of pet food highlights changing lifestyles due to rapid urbanization and higher disposable incomes, while sanitizers reflect post-pandemic hygiene practices. Fitness bands and wireless earphones show the growing importance of wearable technology in daily consumption patterns.
Technological impact
Air purifiers reflect growing concern for indoor air quality
The inclusion of air purifiers in the revised CPI basket highlights the growing awareness of indoor health and air quality. The new series adopts 2024 as the base year and aligns India's inflation measurement with international standards, specifically COICOP 2018. This change improves global comparability. It also marks a methodological shift in data collection, with prices for certain items increasingly sourced from online platforms and administrative datasets rather than physical market surveys.
Category shift
Shift away from food items
The revised index also shows a gradual shift away from food. Its weight in the CPI will fall below 40% for the first time, while non-food categories' contribution will rise to over 60% from around 45%. This change reflects changing consumption patterns and recognizes rural consumption's growing role in overall inflation calculations.