admin- Headline Inflation (Year-on-Year) – National level
The headline inflation in May increased to 3.84 percent. This increase was mainly driven by
increase in both the Food and Non-food indices. The average inflation from January 2025 to
May 2025 is 3.27 percent.
1.1 Food Inflation
The Food inflation increased to 6.42 percent in May 2025. Within the Food category, the Food & non-alcoholic beverages index recorded an increase of 6.75 percent, and the Alcoholic beverages & betel nuts index saw an increase of 2.54 percent.
1.2 Non-food Inflation
The Non-food inflation increased to 1.42 percent in May 2025. Under non-food, the Clothing & footwear index saw an increase of 7.64 percent, Communication index saw an increase of 7.77 percent, and Miscellaneous goods & services increased to 5.22 percent. The Transport index, however, saw a drop of -4.50 percent.
Headline Inflation (Month-on-Month) – National Level
The month-on-month inflation decreased to -1.51 percent in May 2025. This decrease was
driven by decrease in the Food index.
- Regional Headline Inflation (Month-on-Month) –Capital City – Thimphu
Month-on-month inflation for the Capital City decreased to -2.82 percent in May 2025. This increase was driven by a -5.90 percent fall in the Food index and a 0.11 percent increase in theNon-food index.
- Central Region (Bumthang, Dagana, Sarpang, Zhemgang, Trongsa, Tsirang)
In May 2025, the month-on-month inflation for the Central region decreased to -1.08 percent compared to the previous month.
- Western Region (Gasa, Punakha, Thimphu, Wangdue Phodrang, Haa, Paro, Samtse, Chhukha)
In May 2025, the month-on-month headline inflation of the Western region decreased to -1.55 percent. This was mainly driven by a -3.09 percent decrease in the index of Food.
- Eastern Region (Monggar, Trashigang, Trashi Yangtse, Lhuentse, Pema Gatshel, Samdrup Jongkhar)
In May 2025, the month-on-month headline inflation rate for the Eastern region decreased to-2.23 percent, mainly driven by decrease in the 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.
In 2024, the non-food index decelerated to 0.25 percent, from 4.44 percent in 2023. This deceleration was primarily due to a drop in communication and transport index to -0.64 percentand -0.14 percent respectively.
- Purchasing Power of the Ngultrum – National Level
The purchasing power of the Ngultrum, as measured by CPI, stood at Nu. 55.0 as of May 2025 as compared to December 2012. This means, Nu. 100 in May 2025 is worth only Nu. 55.0 at December 2012 prices. The Purchasing Power of the Ngultrum has eroded by 3.70 percent in the last year (from May 2024 to May 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/