Inflation falls to 8.26% in August

Bangladesh’s inflation eased for the third consecutive month in August, falling to 8.26% from 8.32% in July, while wage growth also slowed, according to Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics (BBS) data released on Monday.
The latest figures show that although overall price pressures continued to ease, the pace of wage growth remained below inflation, indicating continued pressure on household purchasing power.
Food inflation declined to 7.02% in August from 7.16% in July. However, non-food inflation edged up to 9.32% from 9.28%.
Compared with a year earlier, overall inflation also eased slightly from 8.29% in August 2025. Food inflation was 7.60% and non-food inflation 8.90% in the same month last year.
At the national level, inflation in rural areas stood at 8.31% in August, down from 8.36% in July. Rural food inflation fell to 7.01%, while non-food inflation rose to 9.59%.
In urban areas, overall inflation declined to 8.20% from 8.24%. Urban food inflation stood at 7.04%, while non-food inflation was 8.97%.
Meanwhile, the wage rate growth also slowed in August. The national wage rate index rose 8.05% year-on-year, down from 8.22% in July and 8.15% in August last year.
This means wage growth was 0.21 percentage points lower than headline inflation in August, suggesting that workers’ earnings continued to lag behind the rise in living costs.
By sector, wage growth stood at 8.07% in agriculture, 7.97% in industry and 8.25% in services in August.
The average headline inflation for the first eight months of 2026 stood at around 8.83%, according to BBS data.