Headline inflation, as measured by the year-on-year (Y-o-Y) change in the Colombo Consumer Price Index (CCPI, 2013=100) increased marginally to 4.1 per cent in November 2020 from 4.0 per cent in October 2020. This was driven by monthly increase of prices of items in both Food and Non-food categories. Meanwhile, Food inflation (Y-o-Y) increased marginally to 10.3 per cent in November 2020 from 10.0 per cent in October 2020. Non-food inflation (Y-o-Y) also increased marginally to 1.6 per cent in November 2020 from 1.3 per cent in October 2020.
The change in the CCPI measured on an annual average basis remained unchanged at 4.6 per cent in November 2020.
Monthly change of CCPI recorded at 0.4 per cent in November 2020. This was due to price increases observed in items of both Food and Non-food categories. Accordingly, within the Food category, prices of big onion, red onion and potatoes increased in November 2020. However, prices of fresh fish and fresh fruits recorded declines during the month. Meanwhile, prices of items in the Non-Food category recorded an increase during the month mainly due to price increase observed in the Transport (bus fare) sub-category.
The core inflation (Y-o-Y), which reflects the underlying inflation in the economy, remained unchanged at 3.0 per cent in November 2020. However, annual average core inflation declined to 3.2 per cent in November 2020 from 3.4 per cent in October 2020.