Headline inflation as measured by the year-on-year change in the National Consumer Price Index (NCPI, 2013=100) decreased to 4.1 per cent in November 2019 from 5.6 per cent in October 2019 contributed by the statistical effect of the high base prevailed in November 2018. Year-on-year (Y-o-Y) Food inflation decreased substantially to 4.0 per cent in November 2019 from 7.3 per cent in October 2019 while Non-food inflation (Y-o-Y) declined marginally to 4.2 per cent in November 2019 from 4.3 per cent in October 2019.
The change in the NCPI measured on an annual average basis increased to 3.0 per cent in November 2019 from 2.8 per cent in October 2019.
Monthly change of NCPI recorded 0.8 per cent in November 2019 and it was solely due to the price increases observed in the items of Food category. Within the Food category, prices of rice, vegetables, red onions and coconuts recorded increases. Meanwhile, prices of items in the Non-Food category recorded a marginal decrease during the month owing to price decreases of the items in Alcoholic Beverages and Tobacco; and Housing, Water, Electricity, Gas and other Fuels sub-categories.
The core inflation, which reflects the underlying inflation in the economy, decreased to 5.5 per cent in November 2019 from 5.6 per cent in October 2019 on year-on-year basis. However, annual average core inflation increased to 5.6 per cent in November 2019 from 5.4 per cent in October 2019.