Kenyan economic growth rises to 5.9% year-on-year in Q3, inflation drops at 6.6%

By Isaac OGANGA

Kenya’s economy grew 5.9% year-on-year in the third quarter of this year, compared to 4.3% growth in the same quarter of 2022, official data showed on Friday.

“This growth was mainly supported by a rebound in agricultural activities that had contracted in 2022,” reads the Kenya National Bureau of Statistics (KNBS) report.

Also read: Kenyan inflation dips to 6.8 year-on-year in November

Similarly, the country’s overall year on year inflation rate as measured by the Consumer Price Index (CPI) stood at 6.6 per cent in December 2023 compared to 6.8 percent a month earlier.

This was mainly driven by increases in prices of commodities under Transport (1 1.7%); Housing, Water, Electricity, Gas and other fuels (8.3%); and Food and Nonalcoholic Beverages (7.7%) between December 2022 and December 2023.

Consumer Price Index (CPI) is a key macroeconomic indicator used to monitor price movements and how they affect policy decisions.

It is defined as a measure of the weighted aggregate change in retail prices paid by consumers for a given basket of goods and services.

Year-on-year inflation is used mainly for economic decision making as current situation is compared to previous year situation, same period. Inflation rate is defined as a percentage change of the CPI between two periods.

The CPI and inflation are generated from data collected through monthly surveys of retail prices that target a representative basket of household consumption goods and services.

The data collection is conducted in the second and third weeks of the month from a sample of outlets located in 50 data collection zones across the country.