Inflation continues to bite hard as January, 2017 records an eleven month high

Each month the Kenya National Bureau of Statistics (KNBS) releases Consumer Price Indices (CPI) and rates of inflation for the month under review. The overall inflation rate for January, 2017 stood at 6.99 percent, compared to 6.35 percent in December 2016. The CPI increased by 1.00 percent from 175.18 in December 2016 to 176.93 in January 2017.  .

According to KNBS, these numbers were generated using data collected during the second and third weeks of the month of January. The prices were obtained from selected retail outlets in 25 data collection zones which are located in Nairobi and in 13 other urban centres.

Food and Non-Alcoholic Beverages’ Index increased by 1.66 percent. This was mainly attributed to increases in prices of cabbages, spinach, sukuma wiki, maize flour, wheat flour, and maize grain which were partly contributed by prevailing drought conditions. The year-on-year food inflation stood at 12.54 percent in January 2017.

Housing, Water, Electricity, Gas and Other Fuels’ Index increased by 0.33 percent. This was partly due to increase in cost of electricity, house rents and charcoal which outweighed price decreases in the cost of cooking gas and kerosene.

On the other hand, the Transport Index increased by 0.60 percent despite a notable decrease in the cost of diesel. We cannot forget that this was the back to school month after quite a long festive break. It was also during January that form one students were reporting to the next phase of their education cycle. As such, the Education cost Index recorded a month to month inflation rate of 2.28 percent.

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The table below highlights One Month and Twelve Months’ Changes in the Price Indices

January Inflation 2017

One Month and Twelve Months’ Changes in the Price Indices

Mr. Felix
A Math Nerd and a Computer Geek. Currently a Windows 10 Insider. Interested in AI, big data and AR/VR. Takes a keen interest in developments in the tech, business and social media spheres.

Mr. Felix

A Math Nerd and a Computer Geek. Currently a Windows 10 Insider. Interested in AI, big data and AR/VR. Takes a keen interest in developments in the tech, business and social media spheres.

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