The Department of Census and Statistics (DCS) has disclosed in its latest report that the overall rate of inflation, measured by the National Consumer Price Index (NCPI) on a Year-on-Year basis, reached 2.8% for the month of November 2023. This marks a notable increase of 1.8% when compared to the NCPI-based inflation of 1.0% recorded in October 2023.
In specific categories, Food-Inflation for November 2023 saw an increase from -5.2% in October to -2.2% in November 2023. Concurrently, non-food inflation rose to 7.1% from the 6.3% recorded in October.
The NCPI for all items in November 2023 stands at 206.0, reflecting an increase of 2.4 index points or 1.19 percentage compared to October 2023, where the index was 203.6. This increase translates to a rise in expenditure value of Rs. 1231.49 in the “market basket.”
Notable increases in index values were reported for items such as Vegetables (0.62%), Rice (0.14%), Sugar (0.09%), Coconuts (0.06%), Big onions (0.06%), Green chilies (0.06%), Red onions (0.05%), Limes (0.03%), Coconut oil (0.02%), Potatoes (0.02%), Mysore dhal (0.01%), Tea dust/leaves (0.01%), and Fresh fruits (0.01%). However, index values decreased for Fresh fish (0.19%), Chicken (0.08%), Dried fish (0.07%), Eggs (0.07%), Green gram (0.02%), and Chili powder (0.01%).
The rise in index values for non-food groups in November 2023, compared to the previous month, was primarily attributed to price increases in the groups of items ‘Housing, Water, Electricity, Gas, and Other fuels’ (Materials for Maintenance and Electricity bill) (0.53%) and ‘Restaurants and Hotels’ (0.02%). On the other hand, price decreases were reported for ‘Transport (Petrol)’ (0.08%), ‘Alcoholic Beverages, Tobacco, and Narcotics’ (Beetle leaves) (0.02%), and ‘Health’ (Spectacles) (0.02%). Additionally, slight price decreases were reported in groups such as ‘Clothing and Footwear,’ ‘Furnishing, Household Equipment, and Routine Household Maintenance,’ ‘Recreation and Culture,’ and ‘Miscellaneous Goods and Services.’
The report also notes that the price indices for the ‘Communication’ and ‘Education’ groups remained unchanged during the month.
