Kenya's Inflation Rises to 7.3%, Highest In Over Three Years

Kenya's inflation rose to its highest level in more than three years in October, driven by faster price increases for food, transport and housing, the statistics office said on Friday.

Year-on-year inflation rose to 7.3% in October from 6.8% in September, according to the Kenya National Bureau of Statistics (KNBS). The last time inflation was at this level was in July 2023.

The rise was driven by price increases in food and non-alcoholic beverages (10.2%), transport (17.1%), and housing, water, electricity, gas and other fuels (3.7%) over the one-year period.

The three categories account for 57% of the total weight across the 13 major expenditure categories tracked by the KNBS.

Kenya's government aims to keep inflation in a range of 2.5% to 7.5% in the medium term.

The current 7.3% rate is near the upper limit of the target band.