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Bangladesh's inflation rate in April fell slightly as that of both food and non-food items showed a downward trend, official data showed on Monday.
The inflation rate on point-to-point basis in April decreased to 9.17 per cent, Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics (BBS) data unveiled on Monday showed.
In the previous month of March, the inflation rate was recorded at 9.35 per cent.
The BBS prepared the inflation statistics by collecting data from 154 haats and bazaars of 64 districts across the country.
Over the last five months, the country's point-to-point inflation rate had been showing an easing trend as the prices of main foods and some other essential items have dropped.
The rate of inflation climbed to a 13-month high at 11.38 per cent in November of the fiscal year (FY) 2024-25, which started falling in the subsequent months of December, January, February, and March.
The rate of inflation in December fell to 10.89 per cent, then to 9.94 per cent in January, and 9.32 per cent in February.
However, in March last, the inflation rate increased to a little bit higher to 9.35 per cent due to the higher inflation trend of the non-food items against an easing trend of the food inflation.
In April, the inflation rate again dropped to 9.17 per cent. That month, the food inflation rate fell to 8.63 per cent from that of 9.93 per cent in the previous month of March, the BBS data showed.
The rate of non-food inflation also decreased to 9.61 per cent last month from that of 9.70 per cent in the previous month of March.
The higher inflationary pressure started to bite the middle, lower-middle and poor people two and a half years ago as their expenditures for buying necessary items were eating a lion's share of their wages and monthly incomes.
Since December last, the inflationary pressure started to fall, which now has come down to the single-digit.
Following the Russia-Ukraine war and some other internal factors, inflation suddenly jumped to the 9.0 per cent club 19 months ago in August 2022 from the long-maintained 6-7 per cent club in the previous period.
Meanwhile, the point-to-point inflation rate in urban areas is recorded higher than the average rate as it was recorded at 9.59 per cent in April, 0.42 percentage points higher than that of 9.17 per cent average rate.
In the urban areas, the rate of inflation last month was recorded at 9.59 per cent from that of 9.66 per cent in the previous month of March, the BBS data showed.
Food inflation in urban Bangladesh decreased to 9.13 per cent in April from that of 9.18 per cent in March.
Non-food inflation fell to 9.88 per cent last month from that of 9.95 per cent in March in the towns, the BBS data showed.
The inflation rate in the villages fell in April to 9.15 per cent from that of 9.41 per cent in the previous month of March.
The food inflation rate in villages slowed down to 8.40 per cent in April last year from that of 8.81 per cent in the previous month of March.
The rate of non-food inflation in rural areas also decreased to 9.86 per cent in April from that of 9.97 per cent in the previous month, the BBS data showed.
The annual average inflation rate between May 2024 and April 2025 was recorded slightly lower at 10.21 per cent, which is 0.48 percentage points higher than that in the corresponding period.
The BBS has also unveiled the Wage Rate Index (WRI) where it showed that Bangladesh's wages increased at a rate of 8.19 per cent in April from that of 8.15 per cent in March.
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