Kenya’s Cost of Living Rises Again as Households Face Fresh Pressure From Essential Expenses.

Kenyan households saw living costs rise again in July as more expensive transport, food and electricity pushed annual inflation to 6.5%. The Kenya National Bureau of Statistics (KNBS) said the rate increased slightly from 6.4 % in June but remained below the 6.7% recorded in May, the highest level so far this year. On a month to month basis, prices increased by 0.2%.

Transport remains the biggest pressure point
Transport recorded the largest annual price increase of the 13 spending categories tracked by KNBS, rising 15.6%. Although pump prices were unchanged during July, motorists and businesses were still paying much more than they were a year earlier. Petrol cost 14.7% more than in July 2025, while diesel was up 29.7%. Those higher fuel costs continued to feed through to transport and distribution expenses across the economy. The pressure was also reflected in public transport. City bus, matatu and boda boda fares increased by 0.3% during the month, while fares for travel between towns edged down by the same margin.

Food and energy costs move in different directions
Food and non-alcoholic beverages were 9% more expensive than a year earlier, despite declines in the prices of several commonly bought items during July. Tomato prices fell by 3.7%, carrots by 3.6% and sifted maize flour by 1.6%. The reductions were partly offset by higher prices for Irish potatoes, mangoes, beef and sukuma wiki, leaving overall food costs well above their level a year earlier.
Households also faced higher electricity bills. Charges increased by 3.5% for consumers using 50 kilowatt hours and by 3.1% for those using 200 kilowatt hours. Cooking gas provided some relief, with the cost of refilling a 13 kilogramme cylinder falling by 1.1%.

Why the increase hits households hard
Food, transport and housing together account for more than 57% of Kenya’s inflation basket. These are also expenses that households cannot easily avoid or postpone: people still need to buy food, travel to work and school, pay rent and keep their homes supplied with electricity or cooking fuel. That is why price increases in these areas are felt more widely than increases in less essential goods and services. When fares, grocery prices and electricity bills rise at the same time, household incomes buy less, leaving families with less money for healthcare, education, savings and other needs.