8 Food Items Whose Prices Increased In Last One Month

KNBS stated that the price hikes of the ten commodities led to a rise in inflation, increasing from 3.3 per cent in January to 3.5 per cent in February.

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Feb 28, 2025 - 11:48 Updated: Feb 28, 2025 - 11:49
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8 Food Items Whose Prices Increased In Last One Month
A photo of Kenyans shopping at a local supermarket in Nairobi. /MONEY254

The Kenya National Bureau of Statistics (KNBS) has listed eight food items whose prices increased between January and February.

In its monthly survey report released on Friday, February 28, KNBS listed sugar, cooking oil, tomatoes, onions, kales (sukuma wiki), fresh unpacketed cow milk, beef without bones and mutton/goat meat among foodstuffs whose prices went up.

The bureau reported that the prices of sugar, cooking oil, and tomatoes went up by 3.2 per cent, 1.6 per cent, and 1.3 per cent, respectively, while onions and kale saw increases of 1 per cent and 0.5 per cent.

Annual inflation rate in percentage from February 2024 to February 2025. /KNBS

Likewise, the cost of milk, beef, and mutton rose by 0.3 percent and 0.2 percent, respectively. The increase also affected non-food items such as local flights (one ticket), whose prices rose by 4.8 per cent, while the price of miraa rose by 4.5 per cent

KNBS stated that the price hikes of the ten commodities led to a rise in inflation, increasing from 3.3 per cent in January to 3.5 per cent in February.

“Overall year-on-year inflation rate as measured by the Consumer Price Index (CPI) was 3.5 per cent, in February 2025; an increase from an inflation rate of 3.3 per cent recorded in January 2025,” KNBS noted.

Adding, “The annual inflation was mainly due to an increase in prices of commodities under the Classification of Individual Consumption by Purpose (COICOP) divisions."

Furthermore, KNBS identified five food items whose prices declined during the same period. These included beans, maize flour, cabbage, potatoes, and wheat flour, as well as non-food items such as electricity.

According to the survey, the prices of beans, maize flour, and cabbage decreased by 0.5 per cent, 0.8 per cent, and 1.8 per cent, respectively, while potatoes, wheat flour, and 200 watts of electricity saw reductions of 1.8 per cent, 2.4 per cent, and 1.2 per cent, respectively.

The survey gathers retail price data to compile the Consumer Price Index (CPI), typically conducted during each month's second and third weeks.

Commodity prices are sourced from selected retail outlets across 50 data collection zones, with 14 in Nairobi County and 36 in other urban areas.

KNBS states that the Nairobi zones include outlets from lower-income, middle-income, and upper-income areas.

Inside a supermarket in Kenya. /CITIZEN DIGITAL

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