Kenya’s month-on-month inflation in November dropped 0.1 points to 6.8 per cent driven by an increase in prices of commodities under transport, housing, water, electricity, gas and food and non-alcoholic beverages.
Data from the Kenya National Bureau of Statistics (KNBS) Consumer Price Index (CPI) shows the country’s inflation dropped from 6.9 per cent in October.
“This was mainly driven by increases in prices of commodities under Transport (13.6 per cent); Housing, Water, Electricity, Gas and other fuels (8.5 per cent); and Food and Non-alcoholic Beverages (7.6 per cent) between November 2022 and November 2023,” stated KNBS Director General (DG) Macdonald Obudho.
The Food and Non-Alcoholic Beverages Index rose by 0.4 per cent between October 2023 and November 2023. This was lower than the increase of 1.3 per cent observed between 2023 September and October 2023.
During the review period, prices of tomatoes, oranges and wheat flour increased by 17.7, 3.8 and 3.3 per cent, respectively.
This translated to a kilogram of tomatoes going for Ksh95.87, 1kg of oranges costing Ksh84.86 and a 2kg packet of wheat flour Ksh195.87.
In October, a similar quantity of the three commodities cost consumers Ksh81.46, Ksh81.75 and Ksh189.55 respectively.
During the same period, however, prices of potatoes, maize flour-sifted and cabbages went down by 7.1, 6.5 and 3.6 per cent, respectively.
Read: Kenya’s Monthly Inflation At 6.9Pc In October
The Housing, Water, Electricity, Gas and Other Fuels’ Index increased by 0.2 per cent between October 2023 and November 2023 on account of a 1.1 per cent rise in the prices of both gas and cement.
During this period, the price of 200 kWh and 50 kWh of electricity decreased by 1.0 per cent and 1.2 per cent, respectively.
Further, the price of a litre of kerosene dropped by 1.0 per cent during the same period. The Transport Index decreased slightly between October 2023 and November 2023. The decrease was mainly attributed to a drop in the prices of diesel by 1.0 per cent.
Kenya’s preferred inflation band is 2.5 per cent to 7.5 per cent.