New Year, old problem: Kenyans' struggle with high living cost persists

Mombasa residents stock up for the festive season on December 23, 2025. [Omondi Onyango, Standard]

Households across the country are grappling with the steep cost of staples like maize flour, vegetables, and meat as they start the New Year 2026.

The latest official data shows food inflation running at nearly double the overall rate, casting a dark shadow over the ongoing New Year celebrations. 

Kenya's year-on-year inflation rate remained unchanged at 4.5 per cent in December, the Kenya National Bureau of Statistics (KNBS) said on Wednesday.

However, a sharp monthly rise and a wide gap between core and volatile prices signalled persistent cost-of-living pressures for households. 

The December figure matched the annual rate recorded in November. However, the rise in prices was unevenly felt, with the cost of food and non-alcoholic beverages surging 7.8 per cent over the year—the sharpest increase among all major spending categories. 

"The prevailing high cost of food items, which have a significant weight in the consumption basket, continues to be the dominant  driver of the overall inflation," said KNBS Director General Macdonald Obudho.

"While core inflation, which excludes volatile items, has eased to 2.0 per cent, non-core inflation—largely food—accelerated to 11.2 per cent in December, indicating the acute pressure on household budgets for essentials." 

The December snapshot reveals intense monthly pressures. The price of a kilo of loose maize flour, a national staple, rose to Sh77.90, a 5.1 per cent increase from November and 13.2 per cent higher than December 2024.  

A bundle of kale (sukuma wiki) jumped 4.7 per cent month-on-month to Sh98.51 per kg, a staggering 23.4 per cent annual increase. 

"The price of sukuma is touching one hundred shillings. How is an ordinary person supposed to eat?" asked Margaret Mugure, a flower farm worker, mother of three in Naivasha’s Karagita estate. 

"We are starting the new year with the same struggle of high prices." 

Other essential foods followed suit. Potatoes rose to Sh94.99 per kg (up 2.9 per cent for the month, 8.3 per cent year-on-year), while tomatoes cost Sh87.18 per kg (up 1.3 per cent monthly, and a significant 30.3 per cent higher than a year ago). 

Beef with bones reached Sh719.29 per kg, contributing to a 7.8 per cent annual rise in meat costs. 

While some items saw modest December declines, they remained significantly more expensive than a year prior. Sugar fell 1.5 per cent month-on-month to Sh179.60 per kg but was still 12.5 per cent costlier than in December 2024. 

KNBS boss Obudho noted the complex drivers behind the trends. "Food price increases are being influenced by a combination of structural and seasonal factors. The rise in prices for items like maize flour and vegetables points to supply-side constraints, while temporary festive demand also pushed up costs in December," he said. 

Transport costs, another critical burden, surged in December due to festive demand. While the report highlighted specific routes, the broader trend saw country bus and matatu fares for travel between towns increase by an average of 5.3 per cent during the month.  

This surge illustrates the sharp seasonal spike in mobility costs, with travellers on popular long-distance routes, such as those connecting major cities like Nairobi and Mombasa or Kisumu, facing significantly steeper fares just as families sought to reunite for the holidays. Annually, transport costs were up 5.2 per cent, consistently adding pressure to household budgets. 

The core inflation index, covering less volatile goods and services, rose moderately to 130.09 in December. In contrast, the non-core index, heavily weighted towards food, fuel, and electricity, hit 220.84. 

"The contribution of food and non-alcoholic beverages to the overall annual inflation rate was 2.4 percentage points, more than half of the total 4.5 per cent," Obudho highlighted, illustrating the outsized role of grocery bills in the cost-of-living squeeze. 

A slight respite came from energy, with electricity costs for 200 kWh falling to Sh5,530.12 in December, down 2.6 per cent for the month and 3.7 per cent year-on-year. Yet, gas prices edged higher. 

As families are gathering for New Year's festivities and preparing for the back-to-school season next week as schools reopen, the pinch is being felt.  

“We are using less of everything—less flour, less vegetables, smaller portions of meat," said John Karanja, a University of Nairobi Sociology student on holiday in Karati, Naivasha.

"We hear the overall inflation number, but our market basket tells a different, much tougher story. Our hope for 2026 is simply for food prices to come down to earth."