Kenya's annual consumer price inflation remained unchanged at 4.6% in October 2025, according to the latest report released by the Kenya National Bureau of Statistics (KNBS). This indicates that the general price level in October 2025 was 4.6% higher than in October 2024.

Key Drivers of Annual Inflation

The sustained annual inflation rate was primarily fueled by significant price increases across three major expenditure divisions: Food and Non-Alcoholic Beverages, Transport, and Housing, Water, Electricity, Gas and Other Fuels. These three divisions collectively account for over 57% of the total weight across the 13 major expenditure categories.

• Food and Non-Alcoholic Beverages recorded the highest annual inflation rate at 8.0%.
• Transport followed with an annual rise of 4.8%.
• Housing, Water, Electricity, Gas and Other Fuels saw prices increase by 1.9% over the one-year period.

Notable annual price surges were seen in several food items, including Tomatoes (up 37.3%), Sugar (up 22.6%), and Cabbages (up 20.3%). Furthermore, Local Flights experienced a steep price increase of 52.0% annually.

Monthly Inflation and CPI Movement

The overall Consumer Price Index (CPI) climbed from 146.56 in September 2025 to 146.84 in October 2025. This movement resulted in a monthly inflation rate of 0.2%.

The divisions with the highest month-on-month percentage change in CPI were Transport and Restaurants and Accommodation Services, both recording a 0.4% increase.

• In the Transport division, country bus and matatu fares for travel between towns increased by 1.4%.
• In the Restaurants and Accommodation Services division, prepared food from hotels and restaurants registered a relatively higher rise of 0.5%.

However, some commodity prices decreased between September and October 2025, including Maize Flour (Sifted) (down 2.3%) and Fortified Maize Flour (down 2.2%).

Core and Non-Core Inflation Contributions

The overall inflation of 4.6% was primarily driven by Core inflation, which contributed 2.8 points, while Non-core inflation added 1.8 points.

• Core inflation, which measures inflation from less volatile commodities like manufactured food, health, education, and ICT services, eased to 2.7% in October 2025.
• Non-core inflation was 9.9% during the same period.

The Food and Non-Alcoholic Beverages division alone contributed 2.6 points to the overall inflation.

How Inflation Affects Your Money:

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Notes and References

Kenya National Bureau of Statistics. (October 2025). Kenya Consumer Price Indices and Inflation Rates, October 2025 Report.