GVH: competition dampened food inflation

The Central Statistical Office (KSH) announced on Friday that inflation decreased from 5.5 percent in December 2023 to 3.8 percent in January 2024 in an annual comparison. Compared to the first month of 2023, the increase in food prices in January 2024 was 3.6 percent, which is a further decrease of 1.2 percentage points compared to the 4.8 percent value measured in December 2023.

The latest data published on Friday also show that the annual inflation of food products is decreasing month by month. Compared to the peak of 44.8 percent in December 2022, the increase in food prices fell by less than a tenth in just one year, thanks to targeted government measures, the actions of the central bank, and the active interventions and steps taken by the Economic Competition Office to stimulate competition, including the online Price Monitoring system. The latest data also show that the monthly food price increase of 3.6 percent measured on an annual basis in January 2024 was not this low for 30 months (the last time it was lower than this was in July 2021, when it was 3.1 percent).