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Sri Lanka Salary vs Inflation Calculator

Enter your old and new salary with their months and see whether your raise actually beat inflation. Uses the official Department of Census & Statistics CCPI to show your real raise, real pay cut, and break-even salary — no signup, no ads, sources cited.

By Induwara AshinsanaUpdated Jul 18, 2026
Did your raise beat inflation?CCPI · base 2013 = 100
DCS verified · 2026-04

Old salary

Rs

New salary

Rs
Try an example
Real pay cut of 5.33%

Your new salary is Rs 9,008 short of the Rs 169,008 needed to keep pace with prices.

Nominal raise
+60.00%
On the face of your payslip
Inflation (CCPI)
+69.01%
+30.00%/yr · 24 mo
Break-even salary
Rs 169,008
Needed to match old buying power
Your salary in old rupees
Rs 94,670
−Rs 5,330 vs old

Raise vs inflation

Your nominal raise+60.00%
Cumulative inflation+69.01%

When the inflation bar is longer than your raise bar, prices climbed faster than your pay — a real pay cut.

Sources cited:
Max salary: Rs 100,000,000

How it works

A pay rise can look big on the payslip yet buy less than before if prices climbed faster. This calculator separates the two by converting both salaries into constant rupees with the Colombo Consumer Price Index (CCPI, base 2013 = 100), the headline index published monthly by Sri Lanka's Department of Census & Statistics. It uses the same CCPI series as the site's Inflation Calculator, so the two tools always agree.

Let S_old and S_new be your two salaries, and C_old and C_new the CCPI index values at their months. The tool computes:

  1. Nominal change — the face-value raise: (S_new / S_old − 1) × 100.
  2. Cumulative inflation between the two months, from the CCPI rebasing identity: (C_new / C_old − 1) × 100.
  3. Break-even salary — what you would need at the new month to match old purchasing power: S_old × C_new / C_old.
  4. Real change — your inflation-adjusted raise or cut: (S_new / break-even − 1) × 100. A positive number is a real raise; a negative one is a real pay cut.
  5. Real salary in old rupees — your new pay restated in old-month money: S_new × C_old / C_new.

For context the tool also annualises the inflation over the gap using the geometric form (C_new / C_old)^(12 / months) − 1. Every CCPI value is a published DCS figure — no rate is invented. If either month falls outside the published series the tool refuses to compute and asks you to pick a covered month. The real change is cross-checked two ways: via the break-even salary, and by directly deflating the new salary into old-month rupees. Both paths must agree to the rupee.

Worked examples

A 60% raise that was actually a pay cut

Rs 100,000 (Dec 2021) → Rs 160,000 (Dec 2023)

  1. CCPI: 145.2 (2021-12) → 245.4 (2023-12)
  2. Nominal raise: (160,000 / 100,000 − 1) × 100 = +60.00%
  3. Cumulative inflation: (245.4 / 145.2 − 1) × 100 = +69.01%
  4. Break-even salary: 100,000 × 245.4 / 145.2 = Rs 169,008
  5. Real change: (160,000 / 169,008 − 1) × 100 = −5.33%
  6. Verdict: real pay cut — Rs 9,008 short of break-even.

A modest raise that beat calm inflation

Rs 80,000 (Jan 2024) → Rs 92,000 (Jan 2026)

  1. CCPI: 243.4 (2024-01) → 251.0 (2026-01)
  2. Nominal raise: (92,000 / 80,000 − 1) × 100 = +15.00%
  3. Cumulative inflation: (251.0 / 243.4 − 1) × 100 = +3.12%
  4. Break-even salary: 80,000 × 251.0 / 243.4 = Rs 82,498
  5. Real change: (92,000 / 82,498 − 1) × 100 = +11.52%
  6. Verdict: real raise — Rs 9,502 above break-even.

Edge case — a flat salary across the crisis

Rs 100,000 unchanged (Dec 2021 → Dec 2023)

  1. CCPI: 145.2 (2021-12) → 245.4 (2023-12)
  2. Nominal raise: 0% — the salary never moved
  3. Cumulative inflation: +69.01%
  4. Break-even salary: Rs 169,008
  5. Real change: (100,000 / 169,008 − 1) × 100 = −40.83%
  6. Verdict: a deep real pay cut with no visible change on the payslip.

Frequently asked questions

Sources & references

The CCPI series behind this tool was last cross-checked against the DCS monthly press release on 2026-07-18, covering 2015-01 to 2026-04. It is shared with the Sri Lanka Inflation Calculator, so both tools refresh together each month.

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Comments & feedback

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