Rising Fuel Prices Affecting Kenya’s Consumer Market

Kenyan commodity market prices have gone up due to the increase in fuel prices from the month of November according to a report released by the Kenya National Bureau of Statistics (KNBS) for the month of November showing inflation rates have remained high.

According to the report, inflation rates for the month of November was at 6.68 percent, up from 6.47 in October. Also, the Consumer Price Indices increased by 0.71 percent from 172.62 in October to 173.85 in November, making the inflation rates to go high.

The reported which had consumer prices obtained from selected retail outlets in 25 data collection zones located in Nairobi and in 13 other urban centers showed that the average price of a one kilogram bag of tomatoes retailed at 74 shillings in November, up from 70 shillings in October. This is an increase of 3 shillings within a month.

One kilogram of sugar on the other hand averagely retailed at a price of 128 shillings in November from 126 shillings in the month of October 2015.  The table below gives a summary of the same:

The increase in Inflation has been attributed to the continued rise in food and non-alcoholic drinks index by 1.17 percent which outweighed the decreases of others. The year on year food inflation stood at 11.13 per cent in November 2016.

One of the drivers of the escalating inflation in Kenya is the increase in fuel prices. When fuel prices go up, prices of such basic necessities as food and others also go up. Inflation is usually as a result of the increasing prices of the commodities that people cannot do without (basic things).

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