The Kenya National Bureau of Statistics (KNBS) has revealed that inflation reached a 14-month high of 4.5% in August due to rising food and transportation costs. Unga prices rose in August. The inflation rate increased from 4.1% in July, marking the highest level since June 2024, when it reached 6.2%, largely driven by the prices of short-term food crops. Which food items recorded a rise in prices? KNBS’s August Consumer Price Index (CPI) showed that several food items contributed to the increase in inflation. During the review period, the prices of tomatoes increased by 38.3%, carrot costs rose by 24.3%, fortified maize flour prices increased by 18.7%, and mangoes increased by 18.1%.
The CPI data also revealed that sukuma wiki (17%), matatu fares (15.4%), cabbages (14.9%), and loose maize flour (13.4%) registered significant price increases, which had an impact on the consumer basket as a whole. In addition to their high yearly inflation, tomato prices rose by 1.2%, mangoes (1.8%), sukuma wiki (1.9%), carrots (2.4%), and cabbage (6.3%) in August. “The annual consumer price inflation as measured by the Consumer Price Index (CPI) was 4.5% in August 2025. This implies that the general price level was 4.5% higher in August 2025 than it was in August 2024. The price increase was primarily driven by a rise in prices of items in the food and non-alcoholic beverages (8.3%); transport (4.4%), and housing, water, electricity, gas and other fuels (0.8%) over the year,” KNBS disclosed. A woman buys tomatoes in Kibra. Photo: Vlad Karavaev. Source: Getty Images
According to KNBS, the three divisions together account for over 57% of the total weight across the 13 major expenditure categories. The bus rate between Mombasa and Nairobi increased from KSh 1,300 to KSh 1,500 in August alone, the largest price increase of the month. Which items recorded a drop in prices? However, KNBS noted that while the cost of food and transportation increased inflation, the price of goods in the energy sector decreased, reducing the spike. The Energy and Petroleum Regulatory Authority (EPRA) announced a KSh 1 price cut for fuel this month, reducing the price of petrol from KSh 187.37 to KSh 186.37 per litre. CPI is a weighted aggregate change in retail prices paid by consumers over time for a certain basket of goods and services.
By Japhet Ruto
