National consumer prices pick up 2.1% in September on rising food prices

• Prices rose by 2.1% in the twelve months through September 2025
• Measured on a monthly basis, the national consumer prices rose by 0.1%, turning from a negative 0.5% in August
• Food prices which rose by 3.8% from a year ago, accelerated from 2.9% in August
• Non-food inflation rose by 0.7% in the year through September 2025, up from 0.4% from a month ago

Consumer prices measured by the broader National Consumer Price Index picked up pace in September in a mirror image of how the Colombo prices changed for the same month.

The prices rose by 2.1 percent in the twelve months through September 2025, picking up from 1.5 percent in the year through August 2025 in a sign that the broader consumer prices are going up in line with Central Bank’s expectations.

Measured on a monthly basis, the national consumer prices rose by 0.1 percent, turning from a negative 0.5 percent in August.  

The Central Bank expects the prices to pick up pace after the country broke the nearly year-long deflationary spiral a few months ago before reaching its medium term target of 5.0 percent by mid next year, in the absence of any supply side shocks.

The September national prices were taken higher mainly by the high food prices in September which rose by 3.8 percent from a year ago, accelerating from 2.9 percent in August. Food prices measured monthly also rose by 0.1 percent in September from a negative 1.2 percent in August.

This was seen from the increase in the prices of many food staples such as lime, coconuts, milk powder, chicken, big onions and stuff. However, prices came down in commodities such as vegetables, rice, green chilies, red onions, eggs and the likes.

The prices measured barring the often volatile food, energy and transport which are called the core prices rose by 1.9 percent in September, picking up from 1.5 percent in August in a sign that the underlying prices in the economy are rising.

Core prices are what the policy makers use very often for their policy making such as determining the monetary policy.

In September, the Central Bank left its overnight policy rate unchanged at 7.75 percent as they felt the current rates are appropriate to take the inflation up to their medium term target levels.

Meanwhile, non-food inflation rose by 0.7 percent in the year through September 2025, up from 0.4 percent from a month ago.

On a monthly basis, the non-food prices rose by 0.1 percent, unchanged from the same movement seen in August.

Non-food prices were mainly influenced by the cut to fuel prices at the pump in September. But there was a jump in spending by people on education and restaurants and hotels in a sign that the people are spending increasing amounts of money on recreational activities as their disposable incomes were rising.