Four rate cuts, a record-low inflation print, a 50% tariff, two GST slabs and a rupee past 90. The year in Indian money, told through the ten numbers that defined it.
Some years are best remembered as stories. 2025 is easier to remember as numbers. Here are the ten that defined India’s economic year.
The RBI cut the repo rate four times, including a jumbo 50 basis point cut in June, making 2025 one of the most aggressive easing years in a decade.
Falling vegetable prices and the GST cut pushed inflation to levels that gave the RBI room to cut.
The tariff hit textiles, gems and seafood hardest, and the trade talks to remove it ran through the year without a deal.
Gold rose more than 60% over the year in rupee terms, and silver more than doubled to pass ₹2 lakh a kilogram.
The shape of the year: cheap money and low prices at home, high walls and a weak currency abroad.
Put together, the numbers describe an economy that grew well and kept prices low at home while facing a much harsher world outside. 2026 begins with the same question 2025 ended on: whether domestic demand can keep carrying the weight that exports used to share.
- The RBI cut rates by 125 basis points as inflation collapsed to record lows.
- Growth stayed strong, peaking at 8.2% in the July–September quarter.
- The rupee crossed 90 and a 50% US tariff hit labour-heavy exports.
- GST was cut to two slabs, and gold and silver had historic runs.
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