Kenya’s inflation has risen to 4.1 percent. This is the highest rate in eight months and it comes in as the fastest rise in inflation over the last two and a half years. According to data that was released by the Kenya National Bureau of Statistics (KNBS), inflation increased by 0.5 percent from the 3.6 percent rate that was recorded in the month of March.
This increase has been attributed to a spike in the prices of food, transport, and electricity. For instance, the data shows that Kenyans paid more for electricity in the month of April compared to the previous month of March. The cost of 50 kilowatt hours (kWh) went up by 3.8 percent to Sh1,315.81 while that of 200 kWh increased by 3.4 percent to Sh5,877.92.
On the other hand, the Food Index increased by 0.4 percent between March 2005 and April 2005. “Prices of potatoes (Irish), maize grain and fortified maize flour rose by 4 percent, 2.9 percent and 2.6 percent respectively between March 2005 and April 2025,” the KNBS data report stated.
“The transport index rose by 0.5 percent between March and April 2025 mainly attributable to increase in prices of country bus fares during the Easter holidays.”
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Core inflation which entails non-food non-fuel increased to a 10-month high of 2.5 percent in April. In the month of March, it was at 2.2 percent. Cigarettes went up by 23.4 percent, and cooking oil (salad) went up by 5.9 percent. Sugar and wheat flour (white) went down by 3.7 percent and 10.8 percent respectively.
On the other hand, non-core inflation which includes food and fuel whose prices are volatile or transient increased to 8.4 percent from 7.4 percent in the month of March. Sukuma Wiki went up by 32.8 percent and tomatoes increased by 25.5 percent. Petrol and Diesel went down by 9.9 and 8.5 percent respectively.
Related data from the Central Bank of Kenya further shows that Kenya’s inflation has been on a steady climb since October 2024 when it touched a low of 2.72 percent. Inflation ended the year 2024 at a rate of 2.99 percent in December and opened the year 2025 at a rate of 3.28 percent.
