Headline inflation, as measured by the year-on-year (Y-o-Y) change in the Colombo Consumer Price Index (CCPI, 2013=100)1 which followed an increasing trend since October 2021, declined to 66.0% in October 2022 from 69.8% in September 2022. Following a similar trend, the Food inflation (Y-o-Y) decreased to 85.6% in October 2022 from 94.9% in September 2022, while the Non-Food inflation (Y-o-Y) decreased to 56.3% in October 2022 from 57.6% in September 2022.
The change in the CCPI measured on a month-on-month basis decreased by 0.35% in October 2022 after seventeen consecutive months. This was mainly contributed by the monthly decrease of the prices of the items in the Food category, which amounted to 0.75%. Accordingly, within the Food category, significant decreases were observed in the prices of Fresh Fish, Dry Fish, and Rice. Nevertheless, the Non-food category recorded a monthly increase in October 2022 due to the price increases observed in Communication (Mobile, Fixed Phone, and Internet Charges), clothing and footwear, restaurant, and hotel sub-categories during the month. However, Transport (Petrol and Diesel) sub-category decreased in October 2022 contributing to moderate the overall monthly increase in the Non-food category to a greater extent.
Meanwhile, annual average inflation rose to 38.3% in October 2022 from 33.4% in September 2022.
The core inflation (Y-o-Y), which reflects the underlying inflation in the economy decreased to 49.7% in October 2022 from 50.2% in September 2022, while annual average core inflation increased to 27.8% in October 2022 from 24.1% in September 2022.
Source: Central Bank of Sri Lanka
