Dhaka:The country's inflation rate fell slightly to 8.27 percent in October from 8.34 percent in September, driven by a significant decline in food inflation, as per the recent figures released by the Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics (BBS).
According to United News of Bangladesh, the point-to-point general inflation rate saw a reduction of 0.07 percentage points in October. Food inflation notably decreased to 6.40 percent from 7.22 percent in September. However, non-food inflation rose to 9.89 percent from 9.30 percent, suggesting ongoing challenges for households in managing costs related to essential non-food items and services.
The BBS data highlighted a 0.82 percentage point decrease in food inflation over the month, while non-food inflation increased by 0.59 percentage points. Compared to October of the previous year, when the overall inflation rate was 8.17 percent, the current inflation remains marginally higher.
Discrepancies in inflation rates were observed between rural and urban areas. In rural regions, overall inflation was 8.29 percent in October, down from 8.38 percent in September, with food inflation dropping to 6.37 percent from 7.18 percent. Conversely, non-food inflation in rural areas increased to 10.21 percent from 9.57 percent. In urban areas, overall inflation slightly eased to 8.25 percent from 8.26 percent, with food inflation decreasing to 6.42 percent from 7.25 percent, while non-food inflation rose to 9.48 percent from 8.94 percent.
The BBS further reported that the 12-month moving average inflation rate was 8.66 percent from November 2025 to October 2026, down from 9.22 percent for the same period the previous year. Additionally, the wage rate index saw a 7.63 percent increase in October, slightly higher than the 7.60 percent growth recorded in September. Nonetheless, wage growth remained below the overall inflation rate, resulting in a 0.64 percentage point gap for workers between wage increases and inflation.
The Consumer Price Index, as calculated by the BBS, is based on 383 items across 749 varieties of goods and services in rural and urban markets, with price data collected from 154 markets nationwide.