Kenya’s Inflation Drops Slightly to 6.6% Year on Year in December

Kenya’s inflation rate dropped to 6.6% year in December from 6.8% in November, the Kenya National Bureau of Statistics (KNBS) has said.

According to the report,  month-on-month inflation was 0.4% as opposed to 0.2% in November.

The statistics office explained that the rise in inflation was due to rise in the prices of commodities in various sectors, including Transport (11.7%); Housing, Water, Electricity, Gas, and Other Fuels (8.3%); and Food and Non-alcoholic Beverages (7.7%) between December 2022 and December 2023.

The Housing, Water, Electricity, Gas, and other Fuels’ Index saw a 0.4% increase between November 2023 and December 2023, driven by rising electricity prices for 200 kWh and 50 kWh by 1.0% and 1.2%, respectively. However, the price of a litre of Kerosene dropped by 2.0% during the same period.

The Transport Index increased by 0.5% between November 2023 and December 2023, even though the price of Super Petrol and diesel fell by 2.3% and 1.0%, respectively. The primary cause was higher fare charges on specific routes.

Together, these three divisions make up more than 57% of the weights assigned to the 13 main categories in the inflation calculation.

Monthly surveys of retail prices are used to calculate the Consumer Price Index (CPI) and inflation rates, which are based on a representative basket of goods and services for household use.

This information is gathered from a sample of establishments spread throughout 50 data collection zones across the country in the second and third weeks of the month.