KNBS highlights key drivers linked to inflation in September 2025
By Joel Masibo, October 1, 2025The Kenya National Bureau of Statistics (KNBS) has highlighted various drivers linked to the high cost of living in September 2025.
In the Kenya Consumer Price Index and Inflation Report released on Monday, September 30, 2025, KNBS said the September inflation was occasioned by the movement of national average retail prices of selected commodities.
Annual consumer price inflation as measured by the Consumer Price Index (CPI) was 4.6 per cent in September 2025. This implies that the general price level was 4.6 per cent higher in September 2025 than it was in September 2024.
The price increase was primarily driven by a rise in prices of items in the Food and Non-Alcoholic Beverages category (8.4 per cent). KNBS further listed commodity price fluctuations between the months of August and September 2025.
”Between August 2025 and September 2025, the price of maize grain – loose (1 kg) dropped from Ksh70.93 to Ksh 68.14, while the price of sifted maize flour (2 kg) decreased from Ksh 156.99 to Ksh 152.28. Similarly, the price of kale-sukuma wiki (1 kg) fell from Ksh93.41 to Ksh92.48, and the price of sugar (1 kg) reduced slightly from Ksh 186.53 to Ksh185.21.
In contrast, the price of cabbage (1 kg) rose from KSh 89.25 in August to Ksh91.67 in September 2025. The price of kerosene/paraffin (1 litre) declined marginally from Ksh 156.76 to Ksh 155.96, while the price of gas/LPG (13 kg) decreased slightly from Ksh 3,158.35 to Ksh 3,151.65,” the statement said in part.
Inflation drivers
Transport (4.0 per cent), housing, water, electricity, gas and other fuels (1.4 per cent) over the one year are three divisions that together account for over 57 per cent of the total weight across the 13 major expenditure categories.
On the other hand, the Consumer Price Index (CPI) is defined as a measure of the weighted aggregate change over time in retail prices paid by consumers for a given basket of goods and services. The CPI measures the cost of purchasing this fixed basket of goods and services, comparing current prices to those of a base period, which for the current CPI is February 2019.
The inflation rate is defined as a percentage change of the CPI between two periods. There are different inflation rates that can be computed, such as annual (year-on-year), quarterly (quarter-to-quarter) and monthly (month-on-month) inflation rates. Data used to derive the inflation rates is collected through a monthly survey of retail prices from a statistically representative sample of outlets in urban areas across 50 data collection zones nationwide.
The survey is conducted during the second and third weeks of the month. The Overall CPI and Inflation Trends, September 2024 – September 2025 As presented in Figures 1 and 2, the overall index increased from 146.21 in August 2025 to 146.5.