Report: Cost of living drops by 0.5 per cent in June

The prices of a 2 kg packet of fortified and sifted maize flour dropped in June. [File, Standa

Kenya's cost of living declined to 4.6 per cent in June, 2024 down from 5.1 per cent in May, a report by the Kenya National Bureau of Statistics (KNBS) shows.

The report, released on June 26, mainly attributed the drop in inflation rate to the reduction in prices of commodities such as food.

The price of a fortified 2 kg packet of maize flour and the sifted one both dropped by 2 per cent while a maize grain dropped by 1.2 per cent.

A 2 KG packet of wheat flour dropped by 1.5 per cent, while the prices of a 1 KG packet of sugar and a kilogram of oranges dropped by per cent 2.4 and 2.5 per cent respectively.

However, prices of vegetables like spinach, cabbages, onions, and kale all rose in June.

The drop in the inflation rate would also have resulted from the decrease in fuel prices this month.

Prices of one litre of petrol, diesel, and kerosene dropped by 1.6 per cent, 3.4 per cent, and 3.4 per cent respectively as well as the price of gas by 0.2 per cent.

“The housing, water, electricity, gas, and other fuels' Index increased by 0.4 per cent between May and June 2024, mainly due to the rise in prices of 200 kWh and 50 kWh of electricity by 2.9 and3.4 per cent respectively. This was in spite of s drop in the prices of gas/LPG and kerosene by 0.3 per cent and 3.4 per cent, respectively, during the same period.

Transport fares however noted a drop owing to the decrease in fuel prices.