Jan 31, Colombo: Sri Lanka's inflation, as measured by the change in the Colombo Consumers' Price Index (CCPI) , increased to 5.5 percent in January 2017 from 4.5 percent in December 2016, the Department of Census and Statistics reported on Tuesday.

The CCPI for all items for the month of January was 116.1 recording an increase of 1.4 index points or 1.2 percent compared to the month of December 2016 for which the index was 114.7. This was due to the increase of food items by 0.46 percent and increase of non-food items by 0.81 percent.

Year-on-Year inflation of Food Group has increased from 4.1 percent in December 2016 to 4.5 percent in January 2017 and that of Non-food Group has increased from 4.5 percent to 6.0 percent during this period.

For the month of January 2017, on year to year basis, contribution to inflation by food commodities was 1.31 percent and the contribution of Non-food items was 4.25 percent.

The 12-month moving average inflation rate for the month of January 2017 was 4.3 percent. The corresponding rate for the month of December 2016 was 4.0 percent.

The Department of Census and Statistics has revised the base year used for compilation of CCPI from 2006/07=100 to 2013=100 in order to accommodate the changing expenditure patterns and in cooperate changes of goods & services available in the market. Accordingly, from January 2017 the CCPI will be released with respect to the new base, CCPI (Base 2013=100) monthly on the last working day of each month.