Consumer Prices Rise 0.2% in May as Food and Transport Costs Increase

Consumer prices in the Maldives rose by 0.2 percent in May, driven mainly by higher food and transport costs, according to the latest Consumer Price Index (CPI) published by the Maldives Bureau of Statistics (MBS).

Compared with May 2025, annual inflation stood at 2.54 percent. The CPI, which uses November 2022 as its base period, showed prices in Malé increased by 0.31 percent during the month, while prices in the atolls rose by 0.05 percent.

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Food and non-alcoholic beverages recorded a monthly increase of 1.07 percent and rose 5.86 percent compared with the same month last year. Transport costs also increased by 1.12 percent during May and were 9.35 percent higher year-on-year, making transport the largest contributor to annual inflation.

Among individual items, meat prices rose by 8.71 percent during the month, while passenger transport by air increased by 5.56 percent, largely driven by a 17.75 percent rise in international airfares. Prices for vegetables increased by 3.44 percent, while milk, dairy products and eggs rose by 2.14 percent.

Lower Utility, Fuel and Fish Prices Offset Inflation

Lower costs in several utility and energy-related categories partly offset the overall increase in consumer prices. Electricity prices fell by 3.77 percent during the month, while fuels and lubricants for personal transport declined by 4.54 percent following a 4.61 percent drop in petrol prices. Fish prices also decreased by 1.10 percent, with tuna falling by 4.15 percent and tuna curry cut by 9.69 percent.

Other categories that recorded monthly declines included housing, water, electricity, gas and other fuels (-0.66 percent), information and communication (-0.50 percent), clothing and footwear (-0.27 percent), and recreation, sport and culture (-0.11 percent).

Regionally, annual inflation remained significantly higher in the atolls, where prices increased by 3.59 percent compared with 1.83 percent in Malé.

MBS also noted that it has reclassified expenditure on cigarettes and areca nuts purchased in restaurants into the “Tobacco and Areca Nuts” category, with revised methodology applied retrospectively from November 2022. The bureau also revised April 2026 electricity figures following updated data.