Mar 31, Colombo: Sri Lanka’s inflation, as measured by the change in the Colombo Consumers’ Price Index (CCPI) marginally eased to 50.3 percent in March 2023 from 50.6 percent in February, the Department of Census and Statistics reported Friday.

The CCPI for all items for the month of March 2023 marginally increased to 195.0 from 189.5 in February.

The Year on Year inflation of Food Group decreased to 47.6 percent in March from 54.4 percent in February and the Year on Year inflation of Non Food Group increased to 51.7 percent in March 2023 from 48.8 percent in the previous month.

For the month of March 2023, on year‐to‐year basis, contribution to inflation by food commodities was 14.93 percent and the contribution of Non Food items was 35.46 percent.

The Department of Census and Statistics (DCS) following internationally accepted guidelines, has revised the base year from 2013=100 to 2021=100 in order to accommodate the changing expenditure patterns and incorporate changes of goods & services available in the market.

Accordingly the data with respect to the new base, CCPI (Base 2021=100) are released monthly commencing from February 2023. DCS emphasizes that index numbers or inflation figures compiled under different base years cannot be compared.