Inflation in Colombo rose to 8.3% in October from 8.0% in September, the Department of Census and Statistics said, taking the Colombo Consumer Price Index to its highest reading in more than three years and keeping it above the Central Bank’s 7% ceiling for a fourth consecutive month.
The all-items index stood at 209.9 in October against 209.1 in September — a rise of 0.8 index points, or 0.4% month-on-month. In household terms the department put the change at an increase of Rs 666.63 in the value of the market basket, EconomyNext reported.
Food inflation accelerated to 8.8% year-on-year, up from 8.7%, its highest since May 2023. Non-food inflation rose to 8.0% from 7.7%. The Daily Mirror and Hiru News carried the same three headline figures.
Two categories account for most of the rise
EconomyNext reported that the Restaurants and Hotels category together with Transport accounted for 87% of October’s increase — meaning the acceleration is concentrated rather than broad-based across the basket.
That concentration is consistent with fuel. The government raised pump prices by close to 50% after a supply shortage triggered by escalation in the Middle East, with the most recent increase taking effect on 1 October — the first day of the month now being measured. Central Bank Governor Nandalal Weerasinghe warned this week that inflation could run higher if elevated oil prices persist.
Where this sits in the sequence
The reading continues an unbroken climb. This desk reported Colombo inflation stuck at 8.0% in September, then a 37-month high and a third month above the ceiling; October’s 8.3% is a 40-month high and a fourth. The separate National Consumer Price Index held at 8.1% in September.
Not reported
None of the three filings gives October’s core inflation rate, the measure that strips out food and energy and which stood at 5.4% in September. None gives the month-on-month food figure, the NCPI equivalent for October, or any Central Bank comment on when inflation is expected to return within target.
Multi-source — three verified newsrooms. All three agree on 8.3%, 8.8% and 8.0%. EconomyNext alone carries the index level, the market-basket value, the prior-month comparisons and the category breakdown.
