Nairobi, Kenya - The Kenya National Bureau of Statistics (KNBS), reported that the annual consumer price inflation rose to 4.1 per cent in April 2025. This indicates a 4.1 per cent increase in the general price level compared to April 2024.

The surge in inflation was primarily fueled by increases in the prices of goods and services within the Food and Non-Alcoholic Beverages (7.1%), Transport (2.3%), and Housing, Water, Electricity, Gas and other fuels (0.8%) divisions over the past year. Notably, these three categories collectively account for over 57 per cent of the total weighting in the basket of goods and services used to calculate the Consumer Price Index (CPI).

The CPI, which measures the cost of a fixed basket of goods and services relative to a base period of February 2019, showed an overall increase from 143.69 in March 2025 to 144.09 in April 2025. This translates to a monthly inflation rate of 0.3 per cent. The inflation data is compiled from a monthly survey of retail prices collected from a representative sample of outlets in urban areas across 50 zones nationwide during the second and third weeks of each month.

Food and Housing Costs on the Rise

The Food and Non-Alcoholic Beverages Index saw a 0.4 per cent increase between March and April 2025. Specifically, the prices of Irish potatoes, loose maize grain, and fortified maize flour experienced significant increases of 4.0, 2.9, and 2.6 per cent, respectively. Conversely, the prices of kale (Sukuma wiki) and cabbages saw a decrease of 2.3 per cent and 4.0 per cent during the same period.

The Housing, Water, Electricity, Gas and Other Fuels’ Index also rose by 0.3 per cent month-on-month. This increase was mainly attributed to higher prices for 50kWh and 200 kWh electricity, as well as gas/LPG, which rose by 3.8, 3.4, and 0.3 per cent, respectively. Kerosene prices, however, declined by 1.6 per cent over the same period.

Transport Costs Influenced by Easter Travel

The Transport Index recorded a 0.5 per cent increase between March and April 2025. This was largely due to a rise in country bus fares, likely influenced by increased travel during the Easter holidays. Interestingly, the prices of petrol and diesel saw a slight decrease of 1.1 per cent and 1.3 per cent, respectively, during the review period.

Core Inflation at 2.5 Per Cent

KNBS also reported that the rate of core inflation, which excludes volatile products to better reflect underlying inflation trends, stood at 2.5 per cent in April 2025, up from 2.2 per cent in March 2025. Non-core inflation, which includes these volatile items, was significantly higher at 8.4 per cent during the same period.

In terms of contribution to the overall 4.1 per cent inflation rate, core inflation accounted for 2.6 percentage points, while non-core inflation contributed 1.5 percentage points. Food and non-alcoholic beverages alone contributed 2.1 percentage points to the total inflation.

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Notes

Knbs report: https://www.knbs.or.ke/reports/consumer-price-indices-and-inflation-rates-april-2025/