The Kenya National Bureau of Statistics (KNBS) has listed petrol as one category of commodities whose price has gone up in January compared to December last year.
In its monthly survey report published on Friday, January 31, KNBS also listed tomatoes, onions, cabbages, kale, sugar, oranges, and maize grains among commodities whose prices have increased.
Other essential items and expenses whose prices have also risen include kerosene, diesel, tuition fees for primary school pupils, and monthly house rent for a single room, double room, and one-bedroom flat.
The bureau revealed that the prices of onions, tomatoes, and cabbages rose by 6.8 per cent, 178.9 per cent, and 5 per cent respectively, while the prices of kale, oranges, and sugar rose by 3.9 per cent, 1.9 per cent, and 1 per cent respectively.
Similarly, the prices of petrol, kerosene and diesel rose by 0.2 per cent, 1.3 per cent and 1.2 per cent while the prices of single room, double room and one bedroom went up by 0.7 and 0.1 respectively.
According to KNBS, the increase in the prices of the 14 food and non-food items led to a significant increase in the level of the country’s inflation from 3.0 per cent in December to 3.3 per cent in January.
“The year-on-year headline inflation as measured by the Consumer Price Index (CPI) was 3.3 per cent in January 2025. This indicates that the general price level in January 2025 was 3.3 per cent higher than in January 2024,” KNBS revealed.
“The price increase was primarily driven by rising prices in the Food and Non-Alcoholic Beverages category and Transport category over the same period.”
KNBS further announced that the prices of five commodities saw a drop in prices. Among items whose prices reduced in January include cooking oil, mangoes, 200 and 50 kilowatts of electricity, 13kg cooking gas and bus fare.
As per the survey report, the prices of 200 and 50 kilowatts of electricity dropped by 0.6 and 0.7 per cent respectively while the prices of cooking oil, mangoes and bus fare declined by 0.4 per cent, 3.9 per cent and 0.7 per cent.
Methodology of the survey
It involves the collection of retail prices for the compilation during the second and third weeks of every month. Prices of different commodities are collected from selected retail outlets located in 50 data collection zones.
Out of the 50 data collection zones, 14 are located in Nairobi City County while 36 are located in other urban areas. Nairobi zones cover outlets in lower-income, middle-income and upper-income areas.
