If figures from the Kenya National Bureau of Statistics (KNBS) are anything to go by September should have been a horrible month financially when compared to August.

September recorded a rise in the Consumer Price Indices (CPI) which was posted at 131.51 from 131.89 in August 2012. CPI measures changes in the price level of consumer goods and services purchased by households.

During September 2012, Food and Non Alcoholic drinks’ index increased by 0.29 percent, this coming about as a net effect of both falls and rise in the prices of food products. September saw a significant rise in the prices of sugar, potatoes, oranges and beef among others while there was a marginal drop in the prices of sukuma wiki, tomatoes, onions and carrots.

September 2012 also recorded a 0.35 percent rise in the Housing, Water, Electricity, Gas and other fuels’ index. This rise is attributed to increase in house rent in some certain areas and rise in cost of cooking fuels such as kerosene. There was though an observed dropped in in the average prices of electricity and cooking gas.

The Transport index also increased mainly due to higher costs of diesel. Petrol and bus fares.

The graph blow shows the trend in cost of consumer goods and services over the past 12 months: