Indonesia's Annual Inflation Hits 3.48% in March 2026
Reporter
April 1, 2026 | 01:43 pm
TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - Statistics Indonesia (BPS) recorded the annual inflation in March 2026 at 3.48 percent. Ateng Hartono, the Deputy of Distribution and Service Statistics at BPS, stated that the Consumer Price Index increased from 107.22 in March 2025 to 110.95 in March 2026.
Ateng explained that, based on expenditure groups, the annual inflation rate was primarily driven by the housing, water, electricity, and household fuel group, which saw an inflation rate of 7.24 percent.
"The commodity with the largest contribution to inflation in the housing, water, electricity, and household fuel group is the electricity tariff," he said in a press conference on Wednesday, April 1, 2026.
According to Ateng, the inflation rate in March 2026 remains affected by the low-base effect resulting from the electricity tariff discounts in January and February 2025. However, the impact has begun to diminish compared to the previous month, when the annual inflation in February reached 4.76 percent.
"While the influence was quite significant in January and February, the impact on the low-base effect is starting to decrease this March," said Ateng.
He mentioned that although the prepaid electricity tariffs had returned to normal prices in March 2025, the postpaid tariffs are still affected by the electricity discount.
Monthly, BPS noted a 0.41 percent inflation in March, with an increase in the Consumer Price Index from 110.50 in February 2026 to 110.95 in March 2026. This figure is lower than last year's, which was recorded at 1.65 percent. Meanwhile, the inflation rate for the calendar year was recorded at 0.94 percent.
Ateng stated that the largest contributing expenditure group to the monthly inflation was food, beverages, and tobacco, with a 1.07 percent inflation, contributing 0.32 percent to the overall inflation. "The dominant commodities driving the inflation in this group are fresh fish, broiler chicken, rice, eggs, bird's eye chili, cooking oil, and beef," he said.
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