Colombo’s inflation rises to 5.4% in April 2026

The overall rate of inflation, as measured by the Colombo Consumer Price Index (CCPI) on a year-on-year basis, increased to 5.4% in April 2026, up from 2.2% recorded in March 2026, according to the Department of Census and Statistics.

Food inflation rose to 2.8% in April from 0.7% in March 2026, while inflation in the Non-Food Group increased to 6.8% in April 2026 from 2.9% in March 2026.

Higher fuel and electricity tariffs pushed up transport costs as well as food prices, according to the Department of Census and Statistics.

Sri Lanka raised petrol and diesel prices by nearly a third and hiked electricity tariffs by up to 40 percent after the United States and Israel launched attacks on Iran in late February.

The year-on-year increase in the Colombo Consumer Price Index was 5.4 percent in April, compared with an expansion of 2.0 percent in March and a deflation of 2.0 percent a year ago.

The latest figure is higher than the 5.0 percent forecast by the Central Bank of Sri Lanka.

Official data showed that non-food inflation was even higher, at 6.8 percent in April, up from 2.9 percent in March and a decrease of 3.6 percent a year earlier.

--With agencies inputs