NAIROBI, Kenya, April 28 – Kenya’s cost of living dropped to a 10-month low in April due to a slight decrease in global fuel prices and lower vegetable prices on the ongoing rains.
According to the Kenya National Bureau of Statistics (KNBS), the country’s inflation rate dropped to 7.9 per cent Aprilo, from 9.2 per cent in March.
The KNBS data shows that the price for a kilo of kale(sukumawiki) dropped to Sh63.55 from Sh71.87 in March while that of spinach dropped to Sh72.80 compared to Sh78.99 in March.
Further, the price of a kilo of cabbage eased to Sh53.57 during the period under review from Sh65.17 in March, and so did that of tomatoes which dropped slightly from Sh113.12 to Sh112.69.
As for fuel prices, they remain unchanged during the month with a litre of petrol continuing to retail at Sh179.30 and Sh162.91 for diesel.
Even so, global fuel prices eased, with a barrel of crude oil going for USD73.4 during the month from USD92.6.
Despite the drop in the cost of vegetables, the month-to-month Food and Non-Alcoholic Beverages Index increased marginally between March 2023 and April 2023.
“Prices of commodities under furnishings, household equipment and routine household maintenance also recorded an increase of 6.7 per cent over the period,” said KNBS.
Further, the Consumer Price Index (CPI), which measures the percentage change in the price of a basket of goods and services consumed by households, increased by 0.5 per cent from an index of 131.18 in March 2023 to 131.83 in April 2023,
The Housing, Water, Electricity, Gas, and Other Fuels’ Index, increased by 2.7 per cent between March 2023 and April 2023.
This was mainly due to increase in prices of electricity which increased by 18.7 per cent for 50 Kilowatts and 13.7 per cent for 200 kilowatts between March 2023 and April 2023.
The Transport Index went up by 0.2 per cent between March 2023 and April 2023.
