Key Details
The Office of the Economic Adviser’s September 2026 provisional release reports wholesale inflation using the 2022–23 base year. The figures below are year-on-year inflation rates, except where identified as index levels.
Indicator | August 2026 | September 2026 |
|---|---|---|
Overall Wholesale Price Index (WPI) inflation | 9.92% | 11.39% |
Primary articles | 7.76% | 8.67% |
Fuel and power | 22.93% | 25.85% |
Manufactured products | 8.37% | 9.76% |
WPI Food Index | 7.05% | 8.66% |
Output Producer Price Index level | 110.8 | 112.5 |
Trial Input Producer Price Index level, manufacturing | 104.2 | 106.1 |
Across April–September 2026, cumulative WPI inflation was 9.85%, compared with −0.20% in the corresponding period of 2025.
Price Increases Spread Across the Wholesale Basket
Overall WPI inflation rose 1.47 percentage points between August and September. Fuel and power remained the fastest-rising major group at 25.85%, but the acceleration was not confined to energy: inflation also increased for primary articles and manufactured products.
The release identifies mineral oils, food articles, crude petroleum and natural gas, basic metals and chemicals among the drivers. Within manufacturing, basic-metals inflation rose from 10.88% to 16.96%, and chemicals inflation from 14.30% to 16.74%. These industry rates show where prices are rising particularly quickly; they are not measures of each industry’s individual contribution to the headline WPI rate.
Fresh Food Pressure Meets Higher Industrial Prices
Inflation in primary food articles increased from 5.67% to 8.14%. The broader WPI Food Index, which also includes manufactured food products, rose from 7.05% to 8.66%. That distinction matters because prices for manufactured food products rose at a slightly slower annual rate than in August, even as primary food inflation accelerated.
September’s movement also sits within a longer rise in wholesale prices: cumulative inflation for April–September reached 9.85%. The release does not, however, establish how much of the increase in fuel or industrial prices businesses have passed on to final consumers.
Producer Indices Add Another View of Cost Pressures
Alongside WPI, the release reports an Output Producer Price Index for prices associated with producers’ output and a trial Input Producer Price Index for materials and other inputs used by manufacturers. Both index levels increased between August and September.
These measures can help separate changes in prices received by producers from those in prices faced by manufacturers. Index levels should not be read as inflation rates, and a rise in input prices does not by itself show that firms have passed the increase on to buyers.
What Is the Wholesale Price Index?
The Wholesale Price Index (WPI) tracks price changes for a basket of goods at the wholesale level. It includes primary articles, fuel and power, and manufactured products. It is different from the Consumer Price Index, which measures prices paid by households for goods and services; the two can move differently.
Policy Relevance
September’s figures give policymakers two connected price signals: food and fuel pressures are rising, while higher inflation in basic metals and chemicals points to more expensive inputs for parts of manufacturing. The producer indices offer an additional way to follow those industrial price movements as the new series develops.
The immediate analytical question is pass-through. Wholesale prices indicate pressure earlier in the supply chain, but assessing effects on firms’ margins and household budgets also requires evidence from output prices, retail prices and sector-level costs. September’s WPI and producer indices are provisional; the manufacturing input index remains a trial series.
Follow the Full Release Here: Provisional WPI, Output PPI and Trial Input PPI for September 2026