Annual consumer price inflation as measured by the Consumer Price Index (CPI) was 4.4 per cent in January 2026.
The slower increase in inflation in January 2026 (4.4 per cent) compared with December 2025 (4.5 per cent) was partly attributable to base effects, reflecting relatively higher price levels in the corresponding period of the previous year.
According to the Kenya National Bureau of Statistics (KNBS), the price increase was primarily driven by a rise in prices of items in the Food and Non-Alcoholic Beverages (7.3%); Transport (4.8 %), and Housing, Water, Electricity, Gas and other fuels (2.2%) over the past year.
“These three divisions together account for over 57 per cent of the total weight across the 13 major expenditure categories,” KNBS said in a statement issued on Friday, January 30, 2026.
What is the Consumer Price Index?
The Consumer Price Index (CPI) is a measure of the weighted aggregate change over time in the retail prices paid by consumers for a given basket of goods and services.
The CPI measures the cost of purchasing this fixed basket of goods and services, comparing current prices to those of a base period, which for the current CPI is February 2019.
Meanwhile, the inflation rate is defined as the percentage change of the CPI between two periods. Different inflation rates can be computed, such as annual (year-on-year), quarterly (quarter-to-quarter) and monthly (month-on-month) inflation rates.
Data used to derive the inflation rates is collected through a monthly survey of retail prices from a statistically representative sample of outlets in urban areas across 50 data collection zones nationwide. The survey is conducted during the second and third weeks of the month.
The overall index increased from 148.02 in December 2025 to 148.96 in January 2026, resulting in a monthly inflation rate of 0.6 per cent, while the year-on-year inflation stood at 4.4 per cent in January 2026.
Key drivers of Kenya’s inflation for January 2026
Between December 2025 and January 2026, price movements across selected food items were mixed, with notable declines and increases recorded.
Prices of sugar, mangoes and cooking oil (salad) declined by 3.0, 3.2 and 0.1 per cent, respectively. In contrast, prices of cabbages, fortified maize flour, kale (sukuma wiki) and Irish potatoes increased by 9.3, 6.7, 4.0 and 3.4 per cent, respectively.
During the same period, prices of transport-related items showed mixed trends. Country bus and matatu fares for travel between towns decreased by 1.9 per cent. In addition, prices for petrol and diesel decreased by 1.1 per cent and 0.6 per cent, respectively.
Electricity price increased by 3.7 per cent and 3.4 per cent for 50 kWh and 200 kWh, respectively, between December 2025 and January 2026. However, the price of kerosene dropped by 0.6 per cent during the same period.
Prices of miraa, beer and spirits rose by 1.6, 0.3 and 0.5 per cent, respectively, in the same period.
What was the cost of clothing in January 2026?
Between December and January 2026, prices of women’s leather shoes decreased by 0.2 per cent; however, prices for boys’ school uniforms and girls’ school uniforms rose by 1.8 per cent and 4.8 per cent, respectively, while prices for selected household goods and services recorded modest changes.
The price of dishwashing paste/liquid declined slightly by 0.3 per cent. On the other hand, prices for gardening services, laundry soap/bar soap, and domestic servants increased by 0.6 per cent, 0.5 per cent, and 0.6 per cent, respectively, during the period.
Prices of medicine for cancer, spectacles/spectacle frames/contact lenses, and X-rays/scans declined by 2.0 per cent, 0.6 per cent, and 0.2 per cent, respectively. Conversely, prices of medicines for diabetes and laboratory tests each increased by 0.9 per cent, while general practitioners’ services rose by 0.7 per cent during the period.
Between December 2025 and January 2026, prices of mobile handsets (basic/smartphones) and televisions each decreased by 0.3 per cent, while internet costs declined by 0.2 per cent. In addition, television subscription fees (such as DSTV) fell by 0.1 per cent. In contrast, the price of computers (laptops) increased slightly by 0.2 per cent over the period.
Cost of education in Kenya for January 2026
In the same period, prices of exercise books rose by 0.1 per cent. In contrast, prices of school textbooks increased with tertiary-level textbooks rising by 2.0 per cent, while secondary, preprimary and primary textbooks each increased by 1.4 per cent.
Tuition fees for pre-primary tuition rose by 3.3 per cent, while private primary tuition increased by 2.7 per cent. Similarly, private secondary tuition went up by 3.1 per cent.
Prices for post-secondary school boarding fees rose by 2.7 per cent, while both primary and secondary school boarding fees increased by 1.6 per cent each. In addition, prices of café and takeaway prepared food increased by 0.3 per cent over the period.
The price of motor vehicle insurance and medical insurance increased by 0.4 per cent and 1.0 per cent, respectively, between December 2025 and January 2026.
Between December 2025 and January 2026, prices of toilet soap declined by 0.3 per cent. In contrast, prices of toothpaste/mouthwash and hair dressing services each increased by 0.4 per cent, while toilet paper/tissue paper rose by 1.5 per cent during the period.
