Kenyans will be forced to dig deeper into their pockets to afford various food items and essential non-food items because of an increase in prices.

This follows the release of the latest inflation rates report by the Kenya National Bureau of Statistics (KNBS). 

According to the report, in the month of July 2024, the prices of cooking oil, cabbage, mangoes and carrots recorded an increase.

However, the prices of onions, tomatoes, maize grain, wheat flour, and sugar recorded a decrease in price. 

For non-food items, the prices of cooking gas and monthly house rent of a one-bedroom apartment recorded an increase while the prices of petrol, kerosene, diesel and electricity recorded a decrease.

Food Prices that Increased and Decreased in the Past Year

At the same time, the KNBS report detailed that for the period between July 2023 and July 2024, the cost of one liter of cooking oil increased by 3.1 percent.

Further, during the same period, the price of Cabbages (1 Kg) increased by 46.1%, the highest increase recorded.

Other food items whose prices increased included Onions (1 Kg) by 32.1%, Tomatoes (1 Kg) by 28.7%, Mangoes (1 Kg) by 20.5% and Carrots (1 Kg) by 18.7%. 

On the other hand, non-food items which recorded an increase in prices include Cooking Gas/LPG (13 Kg) by 15.5 % and Monthly House Rent for a One Bedroom which increased by 1.5%. 

 Inflation Drops

Moreover, the latest report has detailed that the overall year-on-year (annual) inflation rate as measured by the Consumer Price Index (CPI) was 4.3 per cent, in July 2024.

This means that the price of a basket of goods purchased by households in July 2024 cost 4.6 per cent more that it cost in July 2023.

Furthermore, the month of July 2024 recorded a monthly inflation rate of negative 0.2 per cent.

“The rise in annual inflation was mainly due to an increase in prices of commodities under the following Classification of Individual Consumption by Purpose (COICOP) divisions,

“Transport Index increased by 4.0 per cent in the last 12 months (July 2023 – July 2024), Housing, Water, Electricity, Gas and Other Fuels Index increased by 3.9 per cent in the last 12 months, Food and Non-Alcoholic Beverages Index increased by 5.6 per cent in the last 12 months,” explained the report.