Kenya’s Inflation at Record High of 7.1% as Food Prices Hike

Inflation in Kenya accelerated to a new record of 7.1% in May as the cost of food continues to rise sharply.

According to the latest data released by Kenya National Bureau of Statistics (KNBS), there was a notable increase in prices of food items in May 2022 compared to prices recorded in May 2021.

The month-to-month Food and Nonalcoholic Beverages index increased by 1.3%, though a lower rate compared to its rise by 3.03% recorded between March and April 2022.

The prices of maize flour, cooking fat, cooking oil and fresh packeted cow milk increased by 6.9%, 6.1%, 5.3% and 3.7% compared to April 2022.

Moreover, Housing, Water, Electricity, Gas and Other Fuels’ index increased by 0.6% between April 2022 and May 2022. Kerosene rose by 4.8%.

During the same period, prices of Sukuma Wiki (Kale), spinach and cabbages dropped by 5.0%, 4.1% and 4.0% respectively.