Sri Lanka - Consumer Price Index (CPI)





Sri Lanka: Consumer Price Index (CPI)

Mnemonic CPI.ILKA
Unit Index 2021=100, NSA
Adjustments Not Seasonally Adjusted
Monthly 0.23 %
Data Feb 2024 214.5
Jan 2024 215

Series Information

Source Department of Census and Statistics
Release National Consumer Price Index
Frequency Monthly
Start Date 1/31/1953
End Date 2/29/2024

Sri Lanka: Price

Reference Last Previous Units Frequency
Consumer Price Index (CPI) Feb 2024 214.5 215 Index 2021=100, NSA Monthly
Producer Price Index (PPI) Feb 2011 119.12 117.14 Index 2005=100 Monthly
Wholesale Price Index Feb 2011 119.12 117.14 Index 2005=100 Monthly

Release Information

For Sri Lanka, the monthly National Consumer Price Index (NCPI) measures the changes in prices paid by consumers for goods and services. Produced by the Department of Census and Statistics, the NCPI is a key indicator of inflation and is used for socio-economic analysis and policy purposes. 

Active:

  • Measurement: Fixed-base index relative to 2021 (Index 2021=100)
  • Adjustment: Not seasonally adjusted (NSA)
  • Native frequency: Monthly
  • Start date (reported): 2022m1
  • Start date (extended): 1953m1

Predecessor:

  • 2013=100 - 2014m1 to 2022m12 ("_13")

The source writes:

The NCPI is collected, processed and disseminated by the Prices and Wages division. The index is calculated using price data from all of the nine provinces in Sri Lanka. 

Prior to the NCPI, price data was calculated only for specific areas within the country. From 1953 to April 2008 the DCS has compiled and disseminated a CPI for the Colombo metropolitan area only. Since May 2008 to DCS has been compiling and disseminating a CPI covering the urban areas of Colombo district.

NCPI uses data from the Household Income and Expenditure Survey conducted in 2012/13. The survey included all types of household consumption expenditures and was a good representation of all households in the country. 

NCPI uses 105 sub classes of goods and services further categorized in to 12 groups. It also includes alcoholic beverages, tobacco and narcotics as an expenditure item complying with international best practices. Conversely the CCPI (Colombo CPI) did not cover alcoholic beverages, tobacco and narcotics and had fewer sub classes and groups of goods and services.

NCPI is calculated using a two-stage Laspeyres formula. The price collected in the current period is divided by its previous period price. This short-term ratio is multiplied by the item’s estimated cost of base period spending in the previous month to obtain the current period estimate of the cost of base period spending assigned to the item. As before, the CPI is the sum of the current period estimated cost of base period spending divided by the spending in the fixed base period. 

Moody's Analytics supplements

We back-extend the NSA NCPI to 1953 using four predecessors of the Colombo CPI. From it, we construct a seasonally adjusted (SA) counterpart.

Further reading

At IMF (SDDS):

  • 29 Aug 2022 - Initial version.
  • 7 Jun 2023, Phillip Thorne - Rebased from 2013 to 2021: Properties.