Chicken and Bird's Eye Chilli Prices Drive February 2026 Inflation to 0.68 Per Cent

Jakarta – The Central Bureau of Statistics (BPS) recorded inflation of 0.68 per cent month-on-month in February 2026, with the Consumer Price Index (IHK) rising from 109.75 in January 2026 to 110.50 in February 2026. This contrasts with February of the previous year, when deflation of 0.48 per cent was recorded. On a calendar-year basis, inflation remained contained at 0.53 per cent.

Ateng Hartono, BPS Deputy for Distribution and Services Statistics, explained that year-on-year inflation in February 2026 was recorded at 4.76 per cent, a reversal of the 0.09 per cent deflation experienced in February 2025.

The largest contributing expenditure group to monthly inflation was food, beverages and tobacco, with inflation of 1.54 per cent and contributing 0.45 per cent to overall inflation.

“The dominant commodities driving inflation in this group are chicken meat with an inflationary contribution of 0.09 per cent, bird’s eye chilli with an inflationary contribution of 0.08 per cent, fresh fish with an inflationary contribution of 0.05 per cent, red chilli with an inflationary contribution of 0.04 per cent, and tomatoes, rice and chicken eggs each with inflationary contributions of 0.02 per cent,” Ateng detailed in Jakarta on Monday, 2 March 2026.

Additionally, certain commodities continued to exert deflationary pressure in February 2026, notably petrol, which contributed 0.05 per cent deflation. By component, February 2026 inflation was primarily driven by volatile component inflation, contributing 0.41 per cent. Chicken meat, bird’s eye chilli and red chilli were the dominant commodities in this component. Core inflation components contributed 0.27 per cent to overall inflation, with gold jewellery, cooking oil, motor vehicles and rice with side dishes being the dominant commodities in this category.

For government-regulated price components, deflation of 0.03 per cent was recorded, with almost zero contribution to overall inflation. However, petrol was the dominant commodity exerting deflationary pressure in this component. Regionally, 33 provinces experienced monthly inflation on a month-on-month basis, whilst five provinces experienced deflation. The highest inflation occurred in South Sulawesi at 1.04 per cent, whilst the deepest deflation was recorded in West Papua at 0.65 per cent.

BPS has specifically reported on inflation developments during the Ramadan period. Based on the five-year historical record, inflation consistently occurs during Ramadan with fluctuating magnitudes. This condition is partly attributable to low-base effects, as observed in January 2026 year-on-year inflation.