New Delhi: Retail inflation has risen to a 13-month high of 3.5% in April 2026, mostly due to increased food inflation as restaurants hiked prices owing to the rise of fuel prices, reported The Hindu. According to data on the Consumer Price Index (CPI) for April, inflation in April rose from the 3.4% registered in March.While inflation in the food and beverages category rose to 4% in April from 3.7% in March, inflation in the restaurant and accommodation services sector also registered a sharp increase to 4.2% in April from 2.9% in March 2026.Southern states of Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Tamil Nadu and Karnataka saw the highest inflation while it was the lowest in Delhi, Mizoram and Chhattisgarh, reported Livemint.“The available data suggests that the YoY inflation rates have hardened across most food items during early-May 2026 vis-à-vis April 2026, amid erratic weather conditions and supply disruptions. Icra expects the YoY inflation in the F&B segment to inch up further to 4.5% in May 2026,” Aditi Nayar, chief economist at Icra Ltd told Livemint.Earlier in March, the West Asia Crisis had led to the retail inflation increasing to 3.4%. Similarly, rural food inflation had risen to nearly 4%, with the March inflation being the highest in the financial year 2025-26. Earlier, the figure was 3.21% in February and 2.74% in January.