While the prices of most commodities increased between January 2025 and January 2026, several specific non-food items experienced month-on-month price decreases between December 2025 and January 2026, according to an official inflation report released by the Kenya National Bureau of Statistics (KNBS) on January 30, 2026.
The report tracked the Consumer Price Index (CPI) and reported an annual inflation rate of 4.4 per cent, down slightly from the previous month.
The report shows that, despite price inflation for most items in the market, there were cost reductions for commodities such as sugar and fuel.
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Some of the broad sectors that experienced price decreases are Transport and fuel, Information, Communication, and Technology (ICT), Health and personal care, Household goods, and clothing.
Non-food Items with Price Decreases
The most notable division to see a monthly decrease was Transport, which declined by 0.7 per cent.
- Transport and Fuel
In the public transport sector, Country bus and matatu fares for travel between towns decreased by 1.9 per cent, while fuel for vehicles, which is petrol and diesel, saw a decrease of 1.1 per cent and 0.6 per cent, respectively.
Household fuel, which is kerosene or paraffin, dropped by 0.6 per cent during the same period.
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Although there was a notable decrease in pricing, petrol and diesel still recorded an overall yearly price increase compared to January 2025
- Information, Communication, and Technology (ICT)
Several items in this sector saw marginal price reductions between December 2025 and January 2026:
Prices for mobile handsets, both basic and smartphones, as well as televisions, each decreased by 0.3 per cent.
Internet costs also declined by 0.2 per cent, and television subscription fees, such as DSTV, declined by 0.1%.
These decreases were slightly offset by a marginal 0.2 per cent increase in the price of computers, mostly laptops, during the same period.
Yearly, the Information and Communication sector recorded an overall inflation rate of 0.5 per cent compared to January 2025, despite the price drops.
- Health and personal care
For medical services and supplies, the price of Cancer medicine decreased by 2.0 per cent while spectacles, frames, and contact lenses dropped by 0.6%.
X-rays and scans declined by 0.2 per cent as the price of toilet soap decreased by 0.3 per cent.
- Household goods and clothing
Household maintenance items such as dishwashing paste or liquid declined slightly by 0.3 per cent, as the prices for women’s leather shoes decreased by 0.2 per cent.
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