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Kenya’s inflation reaches 7.3% in October, driven by food

By , based on Citizen Digital

Kenya’s inflation reaches 7.3% in October, driven by foodIllustrative image · Made by Pixels · Pexels · Licence Pexels

Annual inflation in Kenya reached 7.3% in October 2026, up from 6.8% in September, driven by rising food, transport and fuel prices. Potato, diesel and cabbage prices rose particularly sharply, according to data from the Kenya National Bureau of Statistics.

Kenya’s annual inflation rate reached 7.3% in October 2026, up from 6.8% in September, driven by rising food, transport and fuel prices, according to data published on Friday 30 October by the Kenya National Bureau of Statistics (KNBS), the national statistics institute. This was the highest level since July 2023, when inflation also reached 7.3%.

Inflation excluding volatile items, which notably include food, fuel and energy, stood at 15.1%, compared with 4.3% for core inflation, which excludes these categories. Potato prices rose by 34.9%, diesel by 32.5%, cabbage by 29.1% and petrol by 22.8%. Fares for urban buses and matatus, Kenya’s shared minibuses, increased by 18.2%.

The food and non-alcoholic beverages, transport, and housing, water, electricity, gas and other fuels categories rose by 10.2%, 17.1% and 3.7% respectively. Together, they account for more than 57% of the consumer price index basket. The index rose from 156.47 in September to 157.60 in October, representing monthly inflation of 0.7%, while sugar prices fell by 11.1% year on year.

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