PRESS RELAESE

THE COLOMBO CONSUMER PRICE INDEX AUGUST 2015

DEPARTMENT OF CENSUS AND STATISTICS
TEL: 011-2147414

FAX: 011-2147415

AUGUST 31, 2015

TheDepartmentofCensusandStatisticsistheauthorizedagencytocompileColomboConsumerPrice
Index (CCPI).The CCPI is compiled to indicate average changes in the prices of goods and services
purchasedbyhouseholdsinurbanareasofColombodistrict.PricesforitemsintheColomboConsumer
Price Index are collected from 14 selected centers located in Colombo namely Pettah, Maradana,
Wellawatta, Dematagoda, Grandpass, Borella, Kirulapone, Dehiwala, Kotte, Nugegoda, Kolonnawa,
Rathmalana,NarahenpitaandRathmalanadedicatedeconomiccenter.Pricesarecollectedweeklyfrom
the outlets located within each of the above market areas including Cooperative store and a
supermarket.Theconsumerbasketincludes373itemswhichrepresentthetypicalurbanhouseholds
consumption expenditure. The CPI weights are derived from the Household Income and Expenditure
Survey(HIES)2006/2007.

MonthonMonth(MonM)ChangeofCCPI:
The CCPI for all items for the month of August 2015 was 181.9 a decrease of 0.9 index point or a
percentageof0.52wasnotedinAugust2015comparedtoJuly2015forwhichtheindexwas182.8This
decreaserepresentsanexpenditurevalueofRs.268.02intheMarketBasket.

Table1MonthlyChangesbymainGroupsofMarketBasket

IndexNumber

Monthly
changesofthe
ExpenditureValues(Rs.)

MajorGroup*
August
2014

July
2015

Monthly
Changesofthe Index(%)

August
2015

August
2014

July
2015

August
2015

August
2014

July
2015

August
2015

AllItems

182.3

182.8

181.9

259.48

344.08

268.02

0.51

0.68

0.52

Food&Nonalcoholicbeverages
NonFood

206.2
165.6

213.9
161.3

210.7
161.8

278.81
19.33

165.00
179.09

365.41
97.40

0.54
0.04

0.32
0.35

0.71
0.19

ClothingandFootwear

171.7

204.4

205.3

4.34

36.37

7.41

0.01

0.07

0.01

HousingWater,Electricity,
GasandOtherfuels

156.0

139.1

138.5

0.20

11.18

38.27

0.00

0.02

0.07

Furnishing,Household
equipmentsandRoutinghouse
holdmaintenance

151.2

167.7

168.1

0.01

17.82

4.29

0.04

0.01

Education

143.3

143.8

154.2

0.00

0.00

114.16

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.22

Miscellaneousgoods&services

148.1

154.5

155.7

11.48

0.08

9.80

0.02

0.00

0.02

Other

184.0

182.3

182.3

3.31

136.0

0.00

0.01

0.27

0.00

*Note:Thereare10maingroupsofthemarketbasket.SignificantchangesinAugust2015werenotedonlyinsixmain
groups,detailsonwhicharegiveninTable1.

ContributiontoMonMChanges:

Contributions to the decrease in CCPI from July 2015 to August 2015 are given in Table 2. The index
pointdecreasedby0.52%andthiswasduetothedecreaseoffooditemsby0.71%andincreaseofnon
fooditemsby0.19%respectively.
ContributionofFoodandnonalcoholicbeveragesitems:0.71%
Significant decrease in value changes in index were reported for Vegetables (0.49%), Coconuts
(0.16%), Rice (0.14%), Green chilies (0.08%), Red onion & Fresh Fish (0.06%), Coconut Oil (0.03%),
Potatoes(0.04%),Sugar&Limes(0.01%).
Contributionofnonfooditems:+0.19%
Price increases were reported for 'Education' (0.22%), Clothing and Footwear & Furnishings
household equipment and routing household maintenance (0.01%) and for other items (0.02%).
Housing,Water,Electricity, Gas and Other fuelhas showed a slight pricedecrease mainly dueto
theeffectofL.PGaspricedeductioninmidJuly2015.

Table2:ContributiontotheincreaseinCCPIfromJuly2015toAugust2015
(Base:2006/07=100)
SubGroup/Commodity
Food
1.Beef
2.Vegetables(includingleafyvegetables)
3.Coconuts
4.Rice
5.Greenchilies
6.RedOnions
7.FreshFish
8.Sprats(dry)
9.Eggs
10.CoconutOil
11.Banana
12.Papaw
13.Mangoes
14.Potatoes
15.Bigonions
16.Sugar
17.Limes
18.Otherfooditems

NonFood

19.ClothingandFootwear
20.Housing,Water,Electricity,GasandOtherFuels
21.Furnishings,Householdequipmentand
Routinghouseholdmaintenance

22.Education
23.Others
Total*

Rs.cts.
365.41
8.66
252.93
81.03
71.12
41.05
31.65
28.57
48.38
23.73
14.05
17.73
43.38
17.22
19.04
20.20
4.81
7.66
7.19
97.40
7.41
38.27

ValueChange
%change
Increase% Decrease% Neteffect%
0.36
1.08
0.71
0.02

0.49

0.16

0.14

0.08
0.06
0.06

0.09

0.05
0.03
0.03

0.08

0.03

0.04

0.04

0.01

0.01

0.01

0.27
0.01

4.29
0.01
114.16
0.22
9.80
0.02
268.02
*Percentagesofitemsdonottallywithoverallpercentageduetoroundingoff.

0.07

0.19

0.07

0.52

INFLATION:

TheCCPIisaneconomicindicatorconstructedtomeasureinflationwhichisdefinedaspercentagechange
inCCPIovertheyear.Therearetwomeasuresof inflation ingeneraluse.OnemeasureisYearonYear
baseorPointtoPointinflation(ThepercentagechangeintheCPIduringthelast12months).Theother
measureisMovingAverageInflation(ThepercentagedifferencebetweentheaveragePriceIndexoflast
12months&theaveragePriceIndexofprevious12months).

Table3:MovementsoftheCCPI(Base:2006/07=100)
AllItem

Food

2.3%

5.0%

September

181.9

0.2%

3.5%

4.2%

0.4%

4.8%

3.7%

0.0%

2.3%

4.6%

October

179.0

1.6%

1.6%

3.8%

0.1%

4.6%

3.5%

3.1%

0.9%

4.1%

November

179.2

0.1%

1.5%

3.5%

0.6%

4.9%

3.5%

0.2%

1.3%

3.5%

December

180.2

0.6%

2.1%

3.3%

1.8%

7.0%

3.8%

0.6%

2.0%

2.8%

January

183.2

1.7%

3.2%

3.2%

3.8%

12.0%

4.7%

0.3%

3.9%

1.9%

February

178.9

2.3%

0.6%

2.9%

2.1%

9.5%

5.4%

2.6%

6.6%

0.8%

March

178.1

0.4%

0.1%

2.5%

2.8%

6.3%

5.8%

1.9%

4.9%

0.2%

April

178.5

0.2%

0.1%

2.1%

1.2%

4.3%

5.9%

1.4%

3.6%

1.0%

May

179.8

0.7%

0.2%

1.9%

1.5%

4.6%

5.9%

0.0%

3.5%

1.5%

June

181.6

1.0%

0.1%

1.7%

1.8%

4.0%

6.0%

0.4%

3.2%

1.9%

July

182.8

0.7%

0.2%

1.3%

0.7%

2.5%

5.7%

0.7%

2.5%

2.3%

August

181.9

0.5%

0.2%

1.0%

1.5%

2.2%

5.5%

0.3%

2.3%

2.7%

YearonYear(YoY)Inflation
SriLankahasreporteddeflationinAugust2015of0.2%assameasinJuly2015forthesecondconsecutive
month after March 1995. YoY inflation of Food Group has decreased from 2.5% in July 2015 to 2.2 % in
August2015whileNonfoodGroupincreasedby2.5%to2.3%duringthisperiod(Table3).
ContributiontoYonYinflation:
On year to year basis, contribution to inflation by food commodities have increased by 1.01% in
August2015comparedtoAugust2014resultingincreaseinfoodsubindex.
Contribution of Non food items was 1.21%. This was mainly due to the decrease of water bills
(0.12%), Electricity (1.35%), L.P. Gas (0.96%), Kerosene Oil (0.33%), Bus fare (0.21%) and Petrol &
3

Avg.

0.1%

12MonthMoving

3.8%

YonY

4.8%

Year

%Change
MonthtoMonth

1.2%

Avg.

4.5%

12MonthMoving

3.5%

YonY

0.5%

Avg.

182.3

YonY

12MonthMoving

August

Month

2015

%Change
MonthtoMonth

Inflation

%Change
MonthtoMonth

Inflation

Index
Number

Inflation

NonFood

Diesel(1.10%).InNonfoodcategories,theincreaseswereexperiencedinFamilydoctorfee(0.60%),
Vehiclemaintenance(0.21%)andTuitionfees(0.22%).Thetotaleffectofaboveitemshasledtothe
decreaseinNonfoodsubindex.

MovingAverageInflation
ThemovingaverageinflationrateforthemonthofAugust2015is1.0%.Thecorrespondingrate
forthemonthofJuly2015was1.3%.

Table4:MonthlyAverageOpenMarketRetailpricesofselecteditemsofColomboConsumer
PriceIndex(August2014,July&August2015)
Item

Unit

RetailPrices(Rs.Cts)
2014
August

2015July

RetailPriceChanges(%)

2015
August

August.15
July.15

August.15
August.14

1.RiceKekuluRed

Kg

73.39

75.97

70.61

7.05

3.88

2.RiceKekuluWhite

Kg

75.42

72.84

70.23

3.57

6.88

3.RiceNadu

Kg

79.37

75.83

72.74

4.08

8.36

4.RiceSamba

Kg

82.42

90.62

89.54

1.19

8.64

5.Cowpea

Kg

228.20

260.28

256.45

1.47

12.38
20.32

6.GreenGrams
7.Coconut
8.CoconutOil
9.Chicken
10.Eggs

Kg

321.81

260.13

256.43

1.42

Each

40.70

46.84

43.84

6.41

7.70

750ml

209.51

209.19

203.03

2.95

3.10

Kg

414.57

453.65

454.35

0.15

9.60

Each

13.79

14.96

16.59

10.94

20.31

11.RedOnion

Kg

111.91

147.86

120.86

18.26

8.00

12.BOnion

Kg

100.75

101.67

109.81

8.01

9.00

13.Potatoes

Kg

137.00

133.55

123.6

7.45

9.78

14.Garlic

Kg

219.74

269.07

268.00

0.40

21.96

15.DriedChilies

Kg

233.74

283.07

279.84

1.18

19.72

16.GreenChilies

Kg

529.97

504.02

409.09

18.83

22.81

17.Sugar

Kg

100.14

82.49

81.65

1.02

18.46

18.Pepper

Kg

1581.43

1696.63

1693.70

0.17

7.10

19.AshPlantain

Kg

111.47

131.67

128.50

2.41

15.28

20.Carrot

Kg

146.92

232.80

163.88

29.61

11.54

21.SnakeGourd

Kg

114.01

128.68

124.61

3.17

9.29

22.Tomatoes

Kg

154.19

117.90

118.19

0.25

23.35

23.Capsicum

Kg

247.70

270.99

222.42

17.92

10.21

24.Beetroot

Kg

129.02

185.59

132.93

28.38

3.04

25.Beans

Kg

155.83

274.22

200.87

26.75

28.90

26.Banana

Each

10.21

11.86

12.52

5.58

22.60

27.Papaw

Kg

67.65

100.38

119.67

19.22

76.89

Each

56.47

96.07

109.48

13.96

93.86

Vegetables

Fruits

28.Mangoes
FreshFish
29.Seer

Kg

1365.89

1269.48

1255.76

1.08

8.06

30.Talapath

Kg

842.06

896.05

875.61

2.28

3.98

31.Paraw

Kg

912.02

865.50

913.18

5.51

0.13

32.Katta

Kg

1068.34

1135.68

1125.15

0.93

5.32

33.Spratts

Kg

605.40

550.01

644.81

17.24

6.51

DriedFish

34.KeroseneOil

Lt

106.00

59.00

59.00

0.00

44.34

35.Petrol(CPC&IOCAvg.)

Lt

162.00

117.00

117.00

0.00

27.78

36.Diesel(CPC&IOCAvg.)

Lt

121.00

95.00

95.00

0.00

21.49

37.GasAvg.

12.5kg

2396.00

1596.00

1496.00

37.56

Shell\Litro

12.5kg

2396.00

1596.00

1496.00

6.27

6.27

Laughs

12.5kg

2396.00

1596.00

1496.00

6.27

37.56

37.56

Director General
Department of Census and Statistics
5