6 Food Items Whose Prices Increased In March Amidst Increasing Inflation
KNBS stated that inflation in March rose to 3.6 percent, up from 3.5 percent recorded in February.
Marvin Chege 
The Kenya National Bureau of Statistics (KNBS) has revealed six food items whose prices rose between February and March 2025.
This is as the Bureau, established through the Statistics Act of 2006 and initiated in February 2007, reported an increase of 0.1 percent in the annual inflation rate during the same period. This marks the fourth consecutive increase since inflation dropped to below 3 per cent in October last year.
In its monthly report released on Tuesday, April 1, KNBS stated that inflation in March rose to 3.6 percent, up from 3.5 percent recorded in February.
The report also highlighted that the prices of six food items had increased, contributing to the rise in the inflation rate. Food items whose prices have increased include maize flour, maize grain, potatoes, sukuma wiki, tomatoes, and beef.
A photo of Kenyans shopping at a local supermarket in Nairobi. /MONEY254
The report highlighted sukuma wiki as one of the food items that saw a significant price increase, with the cost of 1 kg rising by 6.2 percent.
Additionally, the price of 1 kg of potatoes went up by 4.5 percent, while 1 kg of maize grain saw a 3.3 percent increase. The cost of a 2 kg packet of maize flour also rose by 2.9 percent.
Other food items that experienced price hikes included tomatoes (1 kg), which increased by 1.3 percent, and beef with bones (1 kg), which went up by 0.9 percent.
Conversely, some food prices dropped, including a 1 kg packet of sugar, which fell by 0.2 percent, and 1 kg of beans, which decreased by 0.7 percent.
The increase did not spare non-food items, with air ticket prices rising by 3.9 percent, while the cost of 50 kilowatts of electricity increased by 1 percent. In March, Kenyans paid more for electricity, with KNBS recording a 0.9 percent rise for 200 kilowatts and a 1 percent increase for 50 kilowatts.
The price of cooking gas saw a slight increase of 0.2 percent from February, though it remains 2.7 percent lower compared to the same period last year.
KNBS data also shows that rent for a two-bedroom house has risen by 1 percent year-on-year. Similarly, the prices of sukuma wiki, tomatoes, potatoes, and maize flour have also increased over the past year.
Inflation has risen by 0.9 percent over the past five months, climbing from 2.7 percent in October 2024 to 3.6 percent in March.
After dropping from 3.6 percent in September to 2.7 percent in October, inflation increased to 2.8 percent in November, 3 percent in December, and 3.5 percent in February.
