Sri Lanka’s inflation increases to 66.7% in July

Sri Lanka’s nationwide inflation, as measured by the year-on-year (YoY) change in the National Consumer Price Index (NCPI), increased to 66.7 percent in July 2022, from 58.9 percent in June 2022.

This increase in YoY inflation was mainly driven by the monthly increases of both the food and non-food categories.

Food inflation increased to 82.5 percent in July 2022, from 75.8 percent in June, while non-food inflation rose to 52.4 percent, from 43.6 percent in June 2022.

The monthly change of the NCPI recorded at 5.57 percent, due to the price increases observed in the items of both the food and non-food categories, which were 2.42 percent and 3.15 percent, respectively.

Within the food category, the increases were observed in the prices of milk powder, rice, fresh fish, biscuits and chicken. However, the prices of vegetables, coconut oil and coconut decreased during the month.

Within the non-food category, the increases were observed in the prices of the transport (bus fare, petrol and diesel), furnishing, household equipment and routine household maintenance (washing soap) and housing, water, electricity, gas and other fuels (materials for maintenance) sub-categories during the month.

Meanwhile, the annual average inflation rose to 25.9 percent in July, from 20.8 percent in June 2022.

The core inflation, which reflects the underlying inflation in the economy, increased to 57.3 percent in July 2022, from 49.3 percent, while the annual average core inflation increased to 21.3 percent in July 2022, from 16.8 percent.