Headline inflation, as measured by the year-on-year (Y-o-Y) change in the National Consumer Price Index (NCPI, 2013=100)1 decreased further to 59.2% in December 2022 from 65.0% in November 2022. Similarly, the Food inflation (Y-o-Y) decreased further to 59.3% in December 2022 from 69.8% in November 2022, while Non-Food inflation (Y-o-Y) decreased to 59.0% in December 2022 from 60.4% in November 2022.
Monthly change of NCPI recorded at 0.01% in December 2022. This was due to setting off the price effects of items in the Food category, which decreased by 0.20 per cent, with the price increase in the Non-food category by 0.21 per cent. Accordingly, within the Food category, significant decreases were observed in prices of Big Onions, Dry Fish, Sugar, Vegetables and Rice. However, prices of Coconut, Milk Powder and Fresh Fruits increased during the month. Within the Non-food category price increases were observed in Clothing and Footwear, and Miscellaneous Goods and Services sub-categories during December 2022.
Meanwhile, annual average inflation rose to 50.4% in December 2022 from 46.7% in November 2022.
The core inflation (Y-o-Y), which reflects the underlying inflation in the economy decreased to 57.5% in December 2022 from 60.1% in November 2022, while annual average core inflation increased to 43.9% in December 2022 from 40.0% in November 2022.