The Central Bank of Sri Lanka announced that headline inflation, measured by the year-on-year (Y-o-Y) change in the Colombo Consumer Price Index, turned negative in September 2024, marking the first instance of deflation since September 2015. The deflation rate for the month was recorded at 0.5%.
The food category experienced a Y-o-Y deflation of 0.3% in September, a sharp reversal from the 0.8% inflation reported in August 2024. Similarly, the non-food category posted a Y-o-Y deflation of 0.5%, down from 0.4% inflation in the previous month.