Tuesday, August 23, 2011

Retail prices of wheat and rice in South Asia

The charts below show retail prices of wheat and rice in one major city of each South Asian country (except for Maldives for which there is no data available).

Retail price of rice increased in all countries during mid-2008. It cooled off a little bit but is still high and rising. Overall, retail price of rice is highest in Pakistan. It is followed by Sri Lanka, India, Nepal, Bhutan, and Bangladesh. Retail price of wheat in Bhutan is rising rapidly even though it still has lower price than in Bangladesh. Price of rice is picking up since the beginning of this year.

As of July 2011, retail price of a kilo of rice was USD 0.59, USD 0.52, USD 0.51, USD 0.49, USD 0.47 and USD 0.44 in Pakistan, Sri Lanka, India, Nepal, Bhutan and Bangladesh respectively. In July 2008, they figures were USD 0.74, USD 0.58, USD 0.47, USD 0.54, USD 0.35, and USD 0.50 in Pakistan, Sri Lanka, India, Nepal, Bhutan and Bangladesh respectively.

Retail price of wheat spiked in mid-2008 and then cooled off a bit before rising again. As of July 2011, Sri Lanka has the highest retail price of wheat, followed by Afghanistan, Nepal, Bhutan, Pakistan, Bangladesh and India. Sri Lanka and Nepal are seeing a rapid rise in retail price of wheat.

As of July 2011, retail price of a kilo of wheat was USD 0.78, USD 0.52, USD 0.51, USD 0.43, USD 0.38, USD 0.38, USD 0.34 and USD 0.34 in Sri Lanka, Afghanistan, Nepal, Bhutan, Pakistan, Bangladesh and India. In July 2008 the figures were USD 0.69, USD 0.68, USD 0.43, USD 0.35, USD 0.41, USD 0.55, and USD 0.30 in Sri Lanka, Afghanistan, Nepal, Bhutan, Pakistan, Bangladesh and India respectively.