The overall year-on-year inflation rate as measured by the Consumer Price Index (CPI) was 7.9 per cent, in June 2023.
Data from the Kenya National Bureau of Statistics (KNBS) indicate that the inflation was primarily due to an increase in prices of commodities under Food and Non-alcoholic Beverages (10.3%); and Housing, Water, Electricity, Gas and other fuels (9.4%); and Transport (9.4%) between June 2022 and June 2023.
These three divisions account for over 57 per cent of the weights of the 13 broad categories.
Further, the CPI increased by 0.8 per cent from an index of 133.01 in May 2023 to 134.01 in June 2023.
The month-to-month Food and Non-Alcoholic Beverages Index increased 1.3 per cent between May 2023 and June 2023.
Notably, the prices for carrots, onions (leeks and bulbs), tomatoes and maize grain-loose increased by 9.0, 7.3, 6.4 and 5.5 per cent, respectively between May 2023 and June 2023.
During the same period, prices of potatoes, avocado, kale (sukuma wiki) and cabbages declined by 6.1, 4.6, 2.7 and 0.3 per cent, respectively.
The Housing, Water, Electricity, Gas and Other Fuels’ Index, increased by 0.6 per cent between May 2023 and June 2023.
This, KNBS notes, was mainly due to an increase in prices of electricity 200 kilowatts by 4.2 per cent between May 2023 and June 2023.
During the same period, the prices of gas/LPG declined by 1.8 per cent.
Whereas diesel and petrol prices decreased by 0.7 per cent and 0.4 per cent, respectively, between May 2023 and June 2023, the Transport Index increased slightly by 0.2 per cent. This was mainly due to the increase in prices of fares for city buses and flights during that period.
