Food Prices Rise 7.28% Year-on-Year as Inflation Reaches 2.56%
- Annual inflation rose to 2.56% in June, driven mainly by a 7.28% year-on-year increase in food and beverage prices.
- Vegetable prices surged 18.87% monthly, with onions nearly doubling at 91.83%, while electricity, fuel and airfares declined.
- Inflation was higher in the atolls at 3.49% annually, compared with 1.93% in Malé, especially in housing and transport costs.
Rising food costs remained the main source of inflationary pressure in the Maldives during June, although declines in electricity, fuel and international airfare prices limited the overall increase in household expenses.
The national Consumer Price Index rose by 0.26% from May, slightly above the 0.20% monthly increase recorded previously, according to the Maldives Bureau of Statistics. Annual inflation also edged up from 2.54% in May to 2.56% in June.
Food and beverage prices, including fish, increased by 1.90% during the month and were 7.28% higher than a year earlier. Vegetables recorded the largest monthly increase among expenditure categories, rising by 18.87%.
The price of onions nearly doubled, increasing by 91.83% from May. Carrot prices rose by 14.83%, potatoes by 11.42% and tomatoes by 9.55%. Eggs increased by 6.64%, while flavoured milk packets rose by 2.54%.
Some of this pressure was offset by lower prices for coconuts, reef fish, oranges, apples and young coconuts. Fish prices declined by 0.52% during June but remained 6.03% higher than a year earlier. Excluding fish, food and beverage prices rose by 2.53% during the month, indicating that falling fish prices partly concealed the broader increase in food costs.
Housing, water, electricity, gas and other fuel costs declined by 0.60% from May. Electricity prices fell by 3.64%, while water and gas prices decreased by 0.62% and 0.81%, respectively.
Transport prices fell by 1.47% during the month, supported by reductions in international airfare, petrol and diesel prices. International airfare declined by 10.62%, while petrol and diesel fell by 5.22% and 9.22%, respectively.
Despite the monthly decline, transport remained the category with the highest annual increase, rising by 8.05% compared with June 2025. This was followed by food and beverages at 7.28%, showing that households continued to face elevated costs in two major areas of expenditure.
Inflation remained higher outside the capital. Consumer prices rose by 0.35% in the atolls during June, compared with 0.19% in Malé. On an annual basis, inflation reached 3.49% in the atolls, significantly above the 1.93% recorded in Malé.
The regional difference was particularly visible in housing and utility costs, which were 4.30% higher in the atolls than a year earlier but 0.29% lower in Malé. Transport inflation also reached 8.91% in the atolls, compared with 6.89% in the capital.
