Kenya’s month-on-month inflation in October increased 0.1 points to 6.9 per cent amid a general increase in prices of commodities, a new report has revealed.
Data from the Kenya National Bureau of Statistics (KNBS) Consumer Price Index (CPI) shows the country’s inflation increased from 6.8 per cent in September.
Prices of commodities under Transport increased by 13.6 per cent; Housing, Water, Electricity, Gas and other fuels up 7.8 per cent; and Food and Non-alcoholic Beverages surged by 7.8 per cent between October 2022 and October 2023.
Food and Non-Alcoholic Beverages Index increased by 1.3 per cent between September 2023 and October 2023.
This food inflation was mainly attributed to an increase in prices of some food items, which outweighed the decrease in prices of other foodstuffs.
Prices of potatoes, tomatoes and oranges increased by 9.6, 5.4 and 2.8 per cent, respectively.
This translated to a kilogram of Irish potatoes to retail at Ksh111.59 from Ksh101.77 in September. 1kg of tomatoes rose from Ksh77.31 in September to Ksh81.46 in October whereas 1kg of oranges shot up to Ksh81.75 in October from Ksh79.49.
Read: Kenya’s Monthly Inflation At 6.8Pc In September
During the same period, however, prices of sifted maize flour, fortified maize flour and white wheat flour decreased by 4.1, 3.2 and 0.8 per cent, respectively.
A 2Kg packet of sifted maize flour, fortified maize flour and white wheat flour retailed at Ksh172.50, Ksh195.21 and Ksh189.55 respectively during the review period from Ksh179.93, Ksh201.72 and Ksh191.00 in October.
The Housing, Water, Electricity, Gas and Other Fuels Index went up by 1.9 per cent between September 2023 and October 2023.
This was mainly due to an increase in the prices of gas, electricity of 200 kWh, 50 kWh and kerosene by 7.3, 5.0, 3.3 and 1.2 per cent, respectively, between September 2023 and October 2023.
The Transport Index increased by 1.5 per cent between September 2023 and October 2023. The sector increase was mainly attributed to a rise in prices of petrol and diesel by 2.7 per cent and 2.2 per cent, respectively.
Kenya’s preferred inflation band is 2.5 per cent to 7.5 per cent.