General point to point inflation reaches 8.58pc in January

The country's general point-to-point inflation rate reached 8.58 per cent in January, 2026 slightly up from 8.49 percent in December, 2025, according to the latest data from the Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics (BBS).
This slight increase in inflation was mainly attributed to an uptrend in food inflation.
The BBS data showed that point-to-point food inflation slightly increased to 8.29 percent in January, 2026 compared to 7.71 percent in December, 2025. On the other hand, the non-food inflation rate, however, declined to 8.81 percent in January, 2026 down from 9.13 percent in the previous month.
Meanwhile, inflation in both the rural and urban areas recorded slight increase in the last month.
Inflation in rural areas rose to 8.63 percent in January, compared with 8.48 percent a month earlier.
Rural food inflation increased to 8.18 percent from 7.67 percent in December, while non-food inflation in rural areas edged down to 9.04 percent from 9.26 percent.
In urban areas, overall inflation increased slightly to 8.57 percent in January from 8.55 percent in December.
Urban food inflation climbed to 8.61 percent, up from 7.87 percent the previous month. However, non-food inflation in cities fell to 8.54 percent from 8.99 percent.
While rising inflation continues to squeeze the purchasing power of low-income earners, there was little relief on the income front. Against an overall inflation rate of 8.58 percent, the wage growth rate stood at 8.08 percent in November, indicating that incomes are not keeping pace with the rising cost of living.