Yamuna Powdel- Headline Inflation (Year-on-Year) – National level
The headline inflation in February increased to 3.52 percent. This increase was mainly driven
by increase in the indices of both food and non-food
1.1 Food Inflation
The Food inflation increased to 5.81 percent in March 2025. Within the Food category, the Food & non alcoholic beverages index recorded an increase of 6.43 percent, while the Alcoholic beverages & betel nuts index saw a drop of -1.65 percent.
1.2 Non-food Inflation
The Non-food inflation increased to 1.01 percent in March 2025. The main driver of this change was Transport index which saw a drop of -4.24 percent, and Housing & utilities index which dropped to -0.13 percent.
Headline Inflation (Month-on-Month) – National Level
The month-on-month inflation increased to 0.22 percent in March 2025.
- Regional Headline Inflation (Month-on-Month) –Capital City – Thimphu
Month-on-month inflation for the Capital City increased to 1.64 percent in March 2025. This increase was driven by a 3.61 percent rise in the Food index and a -0.14 percent decrease in the Non-food index.
- Central Region (Bumthang, Dagana, Sarpang, Zhemgang, Trongsa, Tsirang)
In March 2025, the month-on-month inflation for the Central region increased to 0.27 percent compared to the previous month
- Western Region (Gasa, Punakha, Thimphu, Wangdue Phodrang, Haa, Paro, Samtse, Chhukha)
In March 2025, the month-on-month headline inflation of the Western region increased to 0.29 percent. This was mainly driven by increase in the index of Food and decrease in the index of Non-food.
- Eastern Region (Monggar, Trashigang, Trashi Yangtse, Lhuentse, Pema Gatshel, Samdrup Jongkhar)
In March 2025, the month-on-month headline inflation rate for the Eastern region increased to 0.04 percent, mainly driven by increase in the Food index but decrease in the Non-food index.
- Annual average Inflation – National Level
The annual average national headline inflation from January 2024 to December 2024 eased to
2.82 percent in 2024, down by 1.41 percentage points from 4.23 percent in 2023. The
downward trend in inflation were primarily driven by a slower annual increment in food and
non-food index.
Average food inflation decelerated to 0.48 percent from 3.97 percent in 2023. This deceleration
was due to easing of Food & non-alcoholic beverages index to 0.49 percent and that of
Alcoholic beverages & betel nuts to 0.24 percent.
- Purchasing Power of the Ngultrum – National Level
The purchasing power of the Ngultrum, as measured by CPI, stood at Nu. 54.4 as of March 2025 as compared to December 2012. This means, Nu. 100 in March 2025 is worth only Nu.54.4 at December 2012 prices. The Purchasing Power of the Ngultrum has eroded by 3.40 percent in the last year (from March 2024 to March 2025) due to price increases in the economy.
For detailed information, please visit our website at https://www.nsb.gov.bt/publications/price-statistic/consumer-price-index/