Data from Kenya National Bureau of Statistics (KNBS) show that Kenyans have been forced to dig deeper into their pockets for the better part of the year with the most costly month being May 2012.

If it’s not a rise in the price of unga it’s an increase in fuel pump prices. If it’s not a rise in transport fare, it’s an increase in electricity bills. The cost of living has been on an upward trend.

A CPI measures changes in the price level of consumer goods and services purchased by households. The CPI in Kenya is generated by KNBS using data collected during the second and third weeks of every month. The prices are obtained from select retail outlets in 25 data collection zones located in 13 urban centers. Here’s our break down of the Consumer Price Indices (CPI) going back 12 months.

May 2012 recorded the highest CPI, over the last 12 months which was posted at 134.09. Despite May recording the highest CPI, the month saw a drop in the cost of Electricity and cooking gas, sukuma wiki, cabbages, spinach, onions and oranges. On the other hand there was a significant rise in the prices of maize flour, maize grain and wheat flour among other food items. The prices of firewood, charcoal and house rents slightly went up. The transport index rose due to high costs of Taxi charges, public transport fares and petrol.

In the same period October 2011 recorded the lowest CPI which was posted at 127.20. despite this being the lowest recorded CPI, the price of a number of food products such as sugar, beef, wheat flour, milk, rice and cooking fats increased.

The average price of a kilogram of sugar, for instance, rose to KES 171.90 from 161.82 in September.

There was also a rise in cost of electricity, house rents and cooking fuels. The transport index increased due to rise in costs of petrol, diesel, taxi charges and matatu/bus fares as a consequence of high fuel prices and weakening of the Shilling. There was also a gradual rise in telephone calling charges.

Below is the trend in CPI for the past 12 months.

[caption id="attachment_24694" align="alignnone" width="493"] Data sourced from KNBS[/caption]