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Consumer Price Index

Consumer Price Index — March Quarter 2026

Released Reference period: March Quarter 2026 Economy
+0.5% Increase Quarterly change in headline CPI

Highlights

  • The headline CPI showed an increase of 0.5 percent from the December quarter 2025 to the March quarter 2026.
  • The headline CPI also showed an increase of 2.2 percent from the March quarter 2025 to the March quarter 2026.

Major Contributors to the Change in March Quarter 2026

The primary drivers of the increase this quarter were the Food and non-Alcoholic Beverages, Transport Group, and Education Group.

  1. Food and non-Alcoholic Beverages Group
    • This group increased by 1.7 percent this quarter.
    • The rise was mainly driven by an increase in Meat (3.7%) and Other Food Products (2.9%)
  2. Transport Group
    • This group increased by 2.0 percent.
    • Key factors included a rise in Operations of Transport (6.4%) and Motor Vehicle Purchases (3.9%).
  3. Education Group
    • This group increased by 3.6 percent.
    • The change was primarily due to increases in Other expenses (+3.6%) and Education Fees (+3.2%).

Offsetting Trends

The overall increase in theMarch quarter was slightly offset by a decrease in the Alcohol Beverages, Tobacco & Betel Nut Group.

  • This group decreased by -3.8 percent.
  • The decline was mainly due to the decreases in prices for Betel Nut & Mustard (-6.9%).