The overall year-on-year inflation rate as measured by the Consumer Price Index (CPI) was 6.8 per cent, in November 2023.
This was mainly driven by increases in prices of commodities under Transport (13.6%); Housing, Water, Electricity, Gas and other fuels (8.5%); and Food and Non-alcoholic Beverages (7.6%) between November 2022 and November 2023. These three divisions account for over 57 per cent of the weights of the 13 broad categories.
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 data collection is conducted in the second and third weeks of the month from a sample of outlets located in 50 data collection zones across the country.
As per data from the Kenya National Bureau of Statistics (KNBS), the CPI increased by 0.2 per cent from an index of 136.71 in October 2023 to 137.03 in November 2023.
KNBS: Prices of most items went up in November 2023
Food and Non-Alcoholic Beverages Index rose by 0.4 per cent between October 2023 and November 2023. This was lower than the increase of 1.3 per cent observed between 2023 September and October 2023.
In addition, prices of tomatoes, oranges and wheat flour increased by 17.7, 3.8 and 3.3 per cent, respectively.
During the same period, however, prices of potatoes, maize flour-sifted and cabbages went down by 7.1, 6.5 and 3.6 per cent, respectively.
The Housing, Water, Electricity, Gas and Other Fuels Index increased by 0.2 per cent between October 2023 and November 2023, mainly on account of a 1.1 per cent rise in the prices of both gas and cement. During this period, the price of 200 kWh and 50 kWh of electricity decreased by 1.0 per cent and 1.2 per cent, respectively.
Further, the price of a litre of kerosene dropped by 1.0 per cent during the same period. The Transport Index decreased slightly between October 2023 and November 2023. The decrease was mainly attributed to a drop in diesel prices by 1.0 per cent.
