The Sharp Rise in Red Chilli Prices Drives Inflation in West Nusa Tenggara

Consumer price movements in West Nusa Tenggara (NTB) recorded inflation of 0.84 per cent in February 2026. The increase in red chilli prices became the primary driver of inflation this month.

The Head of Statistics Indonesia’s NTB office, Wahyudin, stated that inflation this time was driven by price increases in the food and beverages group, particularly in red chilli, wet prawns, and broiler chicken commodities.

“Red chilli contributed 0.35 per cent to inflation. The high price of red chilli was caused by limited supply from local farmers, as a result of crop failure that coincided with increased consumer demand heading towards Ramadan,” Wahyudin said, following the release of inflation data at his office on Monday, 2 March 2026.

“During the fasting month, consumer consumption levels tend to increase and this drives up the prices of foodstuffs on the market,” he explained.

Besides red chilli, Wahyudin mentioned several other commodities that also contributed to inflation in February 2026. These commodities include gold jewellery with a contribution of 0.21 per cent, followed by wet prawns at 0.08 per cent, broiler chicken at 0.07 per cent, and air transport at 0.06 per cent.

“The transportation group also made a significant contribution to inflation, stemming from increases in air transport fares, sea transport fares, and motor vehicle prices. The increases in transport fares were partly caused by the expiration of government discount schemes that were applied in January-February 2026,” he said.

Meanwhile, several commodities actually recorded deflation in February 2026. Commodities that experienced price decreases include anchovy with a deflation contribution of 0.06 per cent, red onions at 0.04 per cent, tomatoes at 0.04 per cent, petrol at 0.03 per cent, and horse mackerel/Indian mackerel at 0.02 per cent.

“The price decline in anchovies and horse mackerel was influenced by the abundance of fishermen’s catches. Another factor that triggered deflation is government policy in reducing the prices of motor vehicle fuel types Pertamax, Pertamax Turbo, Dexlite, and Pertamina Dex,” he explained.

By region, the highest inflation occurred in Mataram City at 0.96 per cent with a Consumer Price Index (CPI) of 111.27. This was followed by Bima City, which recorded inflation of 0.91 per cent with a CPI of 112.06. Meanwhile, Sumbawa Regency recorded 0.67 per cent with a CPI of 111.60.

“Inflation occurred across all regency and city areas. The very high price increases occurred in red chilli and red pepper commodities due to reduced production resulting from high rainfall, causing stock depletion, while demand remained high heading towards Ramadan,” he said.

Wahyudin also explained that there were several commodities that made significant contributions to inflation in the NTB CPI area. These commodities included red chilli, gold jewellery, broiler chicken, red pepper, air transport, wet prawns, squid, white cabbage, and tuna fish.