Essential commodity prices in Malé continued to rise in April, with the latest data from the Maldives Bureau of Statistics showing broad increases across food, beverages, personal care products, and gas.
The Essential Commodities Price Index for Malé stood at 117.98 in April 2026, according to the monthly release published on 7 May 2026. Prices increased by 1.06 percent compared with March 2026, while the year-on-year increase reached 4.40 percent compared with April 2025.
The increase points to continued pressure on household spending, particularly as food carries the largest weight in the index. Food accounts for 70.94 percent of the ECPI basket, making changes in food prices especially significant for consumers. Beverages account for 14.20 percent, personal care products for 8.43 percent, and gas and other fuel for 6.43 percent.
Food prices rose by 0.97 percent from March to April, while the annual increase stood at 3.61 percent. The sharpest monthly rise within the food category was seen in meat, which increased by 14.58 percent. Oil and fats also rose by 4.90 percent, while sugar, jam, honey, chocolate and confectionery increased by 4.08 percent.
These increases were partly offset by lower prices for vegetables and fruits. Vegetable prices fell by 3.79 percent month-on-month, while fruit prices declined by 3.08 percent. On an annual basis, however, fruit prices were still 3.62 percent higher than in April 2025.
The strongest year-on-year increase was recorded in gas and other fuel, where prices rose by 14.54 percent compared with April 2025. Month-on-month, the category increased by 0.53 percent. Although gas and other fuel carry a smaller weight in the index than food, the annual rise remains significant because fuel-related costs can feed into wider household expenses.
Beverage prices rose by 1.85 percent from March to April and by 5.31 percent over the year. The increase was driven mainly by coffee and coffee substitutes, which rose by 5.06 percent month-on-month and 19.31 percent year-on-year. Fruit and vegetable juices also recorded increases, rising by 3.20 percent from March and 5.30 percent compared with April last year.
Personal care products recorded a more moderate increase, rising by 0.89 percent month-on-month and 3.50 percent year-on-year.
The ECPI tracks a basket of 96 essential products, using 2,549 price quotations collected each month. It functions as a sub-index of the Consumer Price Index and is intended to help monitor inflation in essential goods, including as an early warning measure for price pressures.
