Inflation Rate For February Hits 9.2% On Higher Food Prices

Kenya’s inflation rate for the month of February hit 9.2 percent, moving up for the first time in 4 months as Kenyans struggled with the cost of living and higher food prices. In January, the inflation rate stood at 9.0 percent on the same account.

“Prices of most vegetables increased in February 2023 relative to January 2023. The prices of cabbages and carrots each increased by 11.3 percent, Kale-sukuma wiki, and tomatoes increased by 11.0 percent and 7.8 percent, respectively,” KNBS managing director Macdonald Obudho said.

During the month of February, the housing, water, electricity, gas, and other fuels index increased 0.4 percent between January 2023 and February 2023. This was mainly due to an increase in prices of gas/LPG which rose by 4.7 percent between January and February 2023.

The CPI increased by 0.6 percent from an index of 129.29 in January 2023 to 130.13 in February 2023. The month-to-month Food and Non-Alcoholic Beverages Index increased by 1.2 percent between January 2023 and February 2023.

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The image below shows inflation rates for the past year: The rate was the highest in October 2029, followed by November 2022 at 9.6 and 9.5 percent respectively. The lowest inflation rate in the past 12 months was February 2022 at 5.1 percent.

The image below shows the prices of various commodities that informed the rise in the inflation rate. Food plays a major role in inflation for it is what people rely on on a daily basis for survival.

Prices of most vegetables increased in February 2023 relative to January 2023. As shown in Table 3, the prices for cabbages and carrots each increased by 11.3 percent.

In addition, prices of kale-Sukuma wiki and tomatoes increased by 11.0 and 7.8 percent, respectively. During the same period, prices of mangoes, sugar, and fortified maize flour dropped by 4.8, 3.2, and 2.5 percent, respectively.

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