Kenyan residents saw a slight reduction in the cost of living, with inflation easing from 7.3 percent in July to 6.7 percent last month. This drop is mainly attributed to decreased prices of various food items.
Essential food items like maize grain, maize flour, fortified maize flour, potatoes, and tomatoes registered price declines of 8.2 percent, 7.3 percent, 6.1 percent, and 3.5 percent, respectively, from July to August 2023. However, mango prices did increase by 6.1 percent during this period.
Meanwhile, the Housing, Water, Electricity, Gas, and Other Fuels’ Index remained relatively stable from July to August.
This stability can be attributed to a 1.5 percent increase in electricity prices for 200 KWh and a 1.8 percent increase for 50 KWh. On the other hand, the price of 13 Kg gas/LPG decreased by 2.8 percent.
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According to the Kenya National Bureau of Statistics (KNBS), the Consumer Price Index (CPI) revealed an overall year-on-year inflation rate of 6.7 percent in August 2023.
While petrol and diesel prices held steady, the Transport Index saw a slight 0.3 percent increase during this period. This rise was primarily due to higher country bus fares on specific routes.
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The Director General of KNBS Macdonald Obudho stated that, “Throughout the reference month, all sectors continued to witness general price increases. Prices of goods in the Transport, Food and Non-alcoholic Beverages, and Housing, Water, Electricity, Gas, and Other Fuels categories increased by 13.1 percent, 7.5 percent, and 7.5 percent, respectively, between August 2022 and August 2023. These three sectors collectively account for over 57 percent of the weight in the 13 broad categories.”
