Thukten Zangpo

The cost of goods and services in the country increased by 1.34 percent in October compared to the same month last year, according to the National Statistics Bureau.

This means that consumers had to shell out 1.34 percent more for the same items than they did a year ago. For instance, a packet of milk priced at Nu 100 in October 2022 now costs Nu 101.34.

The inflation was 5.07 percent in October last year while in September this year, it was reported at 1.35 percent.

Over the first nine months of 2024, inflation averaged 3.01 percent, driven largely by increases in food and non-alcoholic beverage prices.

An increase in the prices of goods and services has eroded the purchasing power of ngultrum by 1.33 percent. The purchasing power of ngultrum at Nu 100 in June this year has the same value of Nu 56.4 at December 2012 prices.

Food prices rose significantly, with food inflation climbing to 4.62 percent in October. The food and non-alcoholic beverages category recorded an increase of 5.14 percent, while alcoholic beverages and betel nuts saw a drop of 1.7 percent.

However, under the non-food category, inflation dropped to -1.72 percent in the same month. This was because of the decrease in housing and utilities index to -0.99, health index to -0.50, and transport to -9.11 percent.

Month-on-month inflation rose to 0.65 percent in October, an increase of 0.75 percentage points from September, driven primarily by higher prices for both food and non-food items.

Among the four regions, Thimphu recorded the highest month-on-month inflation at 1.16 percent in October. This was mainly driven by a 1.89 percent rise in food and 0.49 percent increase in non-food indices.

The eastern region, including Mongar, Trashigang, and Samdrupjongkhar, followed with a month-on-month inflation of 0.71 percent, also fueled by increases in both food and non-food prices.

The western region that includes Gasa, Punakha, Thimphu, Wangdue, Haa, Paro, Samtse, and Chukha saw a month-on-month inflation increase of 0.47 percent.

The central region (Bumthang, Dagana, Sarpang, Zhemgang, Trongsa, Tsirang) saw inflation of 0.38 percent in October compared to the previous month.

Last year, the inflation eased to 4.23 percent, down by 1.41 percentage points from 5.64 percent in 2022.

Last year, inflation eased to 4.23 percent, down from 5.64 percent in 2022. This was largely attributed to a decrease in the non-food index, which fell to 4.44 percent in 2023.

However, food prices rose marginally to 3.97 percent last year, driven by a sharp increase in the cost of alcoholic beverages and betel nuts, which surged by 3.46 percentage points to 4.62 percent.