Kenya’s inflation for January 2024 rose to 6.9 per cent up from 6.6 per cent in December 2023, according to the Kenya National Bureau of Statistics (KNBS).
In a statement on Wednesday, January 31, KNBS explained that the rise in annual inflation was mainly due to an increase in prices of commodities under three Classification of Individual Consumption by Purpose (COICOP) divisions.
Among the COICOP include Transport Index which increased by 10.6% in the last 12 months.
“Housing, Water, Electricity, Gas and other Fuels Index increased by 9.7% cent in the last 12 months,” said KNBS.
Besides, the Food and Non-Alcoholic Beverages Index increased by 7.9% within this period.
Price of Commodities
In the report, the prices of nine selected items decreased while those of the other selected items increased.
“The month of January 2024 recorded a monthly inflation rate of 0.4 per cent,” said KNBS.
The price of Kale, Sukuma Wiki (1kg) reduced by 1.9% while that of Onion (1kg) decreased by 2.0%.
Other food items whose prices decreased include Sugar (1kg) by 2.2%, Tomatoes (1kg) by 3.6% and Mangoes (1kg) by 3.8%.
Non-Food Items
Four non-food items including monthly house rent for a single room and petrol (1 litre) also recorded reduced prices.
The prices of the two items fell by 0.1% and 2.35% respectively.
Kerosene (1 litre) reduced by 2.4% while diesel (1 litre) decreased by 2.5%.
Energy Petroleum and Regulatory Authority (EPRA) on January 14 set the price of one liter of Super Petrol at Ksh 207.36 while Diesel and Kerosene will retail at Ksh 196.47 and 194.23 up to February 14.
Items Whose Prices Increased-KNBS
The price of cabbage (1kg) increased sharply by 10.0% followed carrots (1kg) at 7.4% then orange (1kg) 3.1%.
Others include potatoes (1kg) which increased by 1.7%, beef, with borne that went up by 1.6% and fresh unpacked cow milk that shot by 1.4%
Non-Food Items
50 Kilowatts of electricity recorded a 13.7% increase followed by 200 kilowatts of electricity which increased by 11.4%.
The prices of exercise books (1 piece) and primary private tuition both increased by 3.5%.
KNBS Prices for the Last One Year
KNBS also published the change in prices for select items between January 2023 and January.
Among the food items whose prices increased between this period include 1 kilogram of cabbages (12.5%), mangoes (11.4%), potatoes (10.1%) and kale (4.9%).
The prices of 1 litre of fresh unpacked cow milk also shot by 0.6% in the last one year.
“Overall year-on-year (annual) inflation rate as measured by the Consumer Price Index (CPI) was 6.9 per cent, in January 2024; an increase from an inflation rate of 6.6 per cent recorded in December 2023,” stated KNBS.
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Other food items also recorded an increase in prices as follows: carrots (57.2%), Onions (51.4%), Sugar (32.1%), Oranges (15.7%), Beef with bones (15.3%) and Tomatoes (13.4%).
The price of petrol (1 litre) increased by 16.8%, diesel by 21.0% and Kerosene by 32.8%.
The price of 50 kilowatts of electricity went up by 55.1% while that of 200 kilowatts increased by 41.1%.
Other items whose prices increased include exercise books (10.5%), primary private tuition fee (5.7%) and monthly house rent for a single room (4.0%).
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About CPI
CP is a key macroeconomic indicator used to monitor price movements and how they affect policy decisions.
It is defined as a measure of the weighted aggregate change in retail prices paid by consumers for a given basket of goods and services.
Year-on-year inflation is used mainly for economic decision making as the current situation is compared to the previous year situation, same period.
The inflation rate is defined as a percentage change of the CPI between two periods.
Collection of retail prices for the compilation of the CPI is usually conducted during the second and third weeks of every month.
Prices of different commodities are collected from selected retail outlets located in 50 data collection zones. Out of the 50 data collection zones, 14 are located in Nairobi City County while 36 are located in other urban areas.
Nairobi zones cover outlets in lower, middle- and upper-income areas.
