October prices in Colombo district pick up to 2.1%

• Shift in consumer spend on discretionaries seen

The consumer prices in the Colombo district picked up pace for the third month in a row, on the rising food prices as well as the increasing spending on the discretionaries such as dine-outs and higher expenses on healthcare.

The consumer prices, measured by the Colombo Consumer Price Index, rose by 2.1 percent in the 12 months through October 2025, picking up from 1.5 percent through September.

On a monthly basis however, the prices rose by 0.1 percent in October, decelerating from 0.2 percent in September.
October also marked the third consecutive month the prices rose after the country bucked the nearly year’s long spell of deflation.

The trend seen in the headline prices showed that they are on course to the Central Bank target of 5.0 percent, which they expect to reach by the middle of next year.

Meanwhile, the core-prices, measured barring the often-volatile food, energy and transport, rose by 2.2 percent, picking up from 2.0 percent through September, signalling that the underlying price pressures are gradually firming up.

The food prices rose by 3.5 percent in the year through October 2025, picking up from 2.9 percent through September 2025.

The prices measured monthly showed the food prices staying unchanged after a 0.3 percent rise in September.

The prices of staples such as rice, milk powder, coconuts, limes, big onion, green chilies and coffee powder and a few others rose, the impact of which was far greater than the decline in the prices of vegetables, chicken, sea fish, dried fish, potatoes, ginger and a few other commodities.

The non-food prices picked up to 1.4 percent in the year through October 2025, from a 0.7 percent increase through September 2025.

The prices measured on a monthly basis also rose a tad higher from 0.1 percent to 0.2 percent in October.

While the prices of the transport category came down due to the downward revision to the fuel prices, there was a clear shift seen in people’s spending on discretionaries such as dine-outs as seen from the rise in prices in categories such as restaurants and hotels.

This is a healthy phenomenon where the people are once again starting to spend on recreational activities as they see more disposable incomes when the prices eased while their incomes grew.

Meanwhile, the people were also seen spending higher on their healthcare as the prices for doctor fees and specialist consultant fees saw going higher in October.