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Kenya's inflation rate rises to 6.9 pc due to increased food, electricity costs

A customer picks fruit at a supermarket in Nyeri. (Photo: NMG)

By Eastleigh Voice Reporter | Wednesday, November 1, 2023

The prices of potatoes, tomatoes and oranges increased by 9.6 per cent, 5.4 per cent and 2.8 per cent respectively between September and October.

Kenya's inflation rate rose to 6.9 per cent in October, up from 6.8 per cent in September, the latest statistics from the Kenya National Bureau of Statistics (KNBS) reveal.

KNBS attributed this to the rise in prices of commodities such as food and electricity.

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“The overall inflation rate as measured by the Consumer Price Index (CPI) was 6.9 per cent in October 2023. During this month, all sectors continued to show price rises,” KNBS Director General Macdonald Obudho said stated in a release dated October 31.

The CPI and inflation are generated from data collected through monthly surveys of retail prices that target a representative basket of household consumption goods and services.

The Food and Non-Alcoholic Beverages Index rose by 1.3 per cent between September and October.

The food inflation was mainly attributed to the increase in prices of some food items which outweighed the decrease in prices of other foodstuffs.

The prices of potatoes, tomatoes and oranges increased by 9.6 per cent, 5.4 per cent and 2.8 per cent respectively during the same period.

However, the prices of maize-flour-sifted, fortified maize flour and wheat flour-white decreased by 4.1 per cent, 3.2 per cent and 0.8 per cent respectively.

The Housing, Water, Electricity, Gas and Other Fuels Index went up by 1.9 per cent between September and October.

This was mainly due to an increase in the prices of gas, electricity of 200kWh, 50kWh and kerosene by 7.3 per cent, 5.0 per cent, 3.3 per cent and 1.2 per cent respectively between September and October.

The Transport Index increased by 1.5 per cent between September and October mainly attributed to the rise in prices of petrol and diesel by 2.7 per cent and 2.2 per cent respectively.