May records highest food price increase in 18 years

Official food inflation stood at 57.4% in May, the highest ever year-on-year food prices ever recorded since 2004. 

Advocata Institute’s Bath Curry Indicator (BCI), which tracks changes in the retail price of food, also recorded its highest ever increase of 71% from May 2021 to May 2022 and an increase of 13% over the past month. 

It said this is the largest ever increase in food prices since the index started measuring a basket of commonly consumed food items from 2019. With food prices increasing at this rate, a family that had to spend Rs. 1140 for a week of food in May 2019, now has to spend Rs 1940 to consume the same basket of food items. 

The BCI uses the Pettah retail price for its calculation.  Similarly, prices for the same basket in supermarkets for the same basket of goods have nearly doubled since May 2020. 

The Colombo consumer price index that looks at overall inflation, stood at 39% in May 

2022. This is the highest inflation rate recorded for the past 70 years.