Prices of essential services fell by 2.99 percent during the past 12 months, the Consumer Price Index (CPI) Report released by the Maldives Bureau of Statistics (MBS) figures have shown.
CPI is a statistical measure that tracks the average change over time in the prices of a representative basket of goods and services purchased by households, indicating the level of inflation experienced by consumers. It remains a crucial indicator for monitoring inflation and erosion of living standards and is used to adjust things like social security programmes and state income tax brackets for inflation.
According to the CPI for the past 12 months since June 2025, the price of essential services including housing, water, electricity, gas and other fuel groups fell by 2.99 percent.
The main contributor to this fall was the decrease in the price of
unit price of Electricity services used by consumers, the report said.
The statistics showed tobacco prices have risen the most in the past year. Followed by cafes and restaurant categories. Over the past year, prices for tobacco products have risen 55.94 percent, while prices for restaurants and cafes have risen 29.26 percent.
Drop in Prices in June
Fish - 1.20%
Household appliances - 2.34%
Recording equipment - 1.88%
Airline tickets - 0.73%
Cycle - 0.32%
Fruits, milk and dairy products rose the most in June, according to the data. Fruit prices rose by 3.20 percent, milk, dairy products and onions by 1.22 percent and vegetables by 0.83 percent, the report showed.
The Maldives central bank had forecast a higher inflation rate this year with estimates indicating that inflation will rise to 3.9 percent next year from 0.8 percent this year as the fiscal reform measures come into effect next April.
However, the government has said that inflation is not expected to rise much higher as increase in the cost of living is offset by government subsidies and other social assistance programmes along with fiscal reforms and the current prices of goods and services in the world market.