CCPI accelerates in January

Saturday, 31 January 2026 02:42 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}

Headline inflation, as measured by the year-on-year (YoY) change in the Colombo Consumer Price Index (CCPI), accelerated in January 2026 after remaining steady in the three previous months.

The Central Bank of Sri Lanka (CBSL) yesterday said headline inflation YoY accelerated to 2.3% in January, up from 2.1% in October, November and December.

Food inflation YoY was up to 3.3%, an increase from 3% in December, the same as November, but down from 3.5% in October. Non-food inflation YoY however remained unchanged at 1.8% but increased from 1.7% in November and 1.4%

in October.

On a month-on-month basis, the CCPI reported a notable increase of 0.59% in January, up from 1.26% in December, after having decreased by 0.23% in November.

The food category contributed 0.21 percentage points to this increase, while the non-food category contributed 0.39 percentage points.

Core inflation decelerated to 2.3% YoY in January 2026 from 2.7% in December 2025.

“Inflation projections made at the monetary policy round in January 2026 indicate a gradual acceleration of inflation towards the target of 5% by the second half of 2026, with the support of appropriate policies,” the Central Bank said.