March Monthly Inflation Drops to 0.41 Percent

The Central Statistics Agency (BPS) recorded monthly inflation in March 2026 dropping to 0.41 percent (month-to-month/mtm) from 0.68 percent (mtm) in February 2026. Meanwhile, the Consumer Price Index (CPI) increased from 110.57 in February 2026 to 110.95 in March 2026. “The expenditure group contributing the most to monthly inflation was food, beverages, and tobacco with inflation of 1.07 percent, contributing 0.32 percent to inflation,” said Deputy for Distribution and Services Statistics at BPS, Ateng Hartono, during the BPS Release press conference in Jakarta on Wednesday. The dominant commodities driving inflation in that expenditure group were fresh fish, broiler chicken meat, rice, broiler chicken eggs, bird’s eye chillies, cooking oil, and beef. In addition, there were commodities that still contributed to deflation in March 2026, including air transport fares and gold jewellery, each at 0.03 percent. When viewed by components, inflation in March 2026 was mainly driven by inflation in the volatile food price component, contributing 0.27 percent to inflation. The dominant commodities contributing to inflation were broiler chicken meat, rice, broiler chicken eggs, bird’s eye chillies, and beef. Next, the core inflation component contributed 0.08 percent to inflation. The dominant commodities contributing to inflation in this group were cooking oil and rice with side dishes. Meanwhile, the government-administered price component contributed 0.06 percent to inflation. The dominant commodities contributing to inflation in this component were petrol, intercity transport fares, and Machine-Made Kretek Cigarettes (SKM). Regionally, on a monthly basis, 34 provinces experienced inflation, while 4 provinces experienced deflation. The highest inflation occurred in Papua Pegunungan at 2.57 percent. The deepest deflation occurred in Maluku at 0.75 percent. Annual inflation was recorded at 3.48 percent (year-on-year/yoy) and calendar year inflation at 0.94 percent (year-to-date/ytd).