ECONOMY

Pain At The Kitchen As Prices Of Cooking Oil Shoot By 47 Percent

FRANCIS MULIJan 4, 20221 Mins read1.5k

According to KNBS, the price of one litre of cooking oil was averaging Ksh203 in December 2020, but the price has shot to Ksh303 as of December 2021. [Photo/ Courtesy]

The price of cooking oil increased by 47 percent between December 2020 and December 2021, according to the Kenya National Bureau of Statistics (KNBS).

According to KNBS, the price of one litre of cooking oil was averaging Ksh203 in December 2020, but the price has sħot to Ksh303 as of December 2021.

The overall year-on-year inflation rate as measured by the Consumer Price Index (CPI) was 5.73 percent, in December 2021. This was mainly due to an increase in prices of commodities under; food and non-alcoħolic beverages (9.09 percent); transport (8.10 percent); and housing, water, electricity, gas and other fuels (6.24 percent) between December 2020 and December 2021.

The CPI increased by 0.91 percent from an index of 117.203 in November 2021 to 118.274 in December 2021. The month-to-month Food and Non-Alcoħolic Beverages Index increased by 1.68 percent between November 2021 and December 2021. This was mainly attributed to the increase in prices of some food items, which outweighed the decrease in prices of others.

The prices of onions (leeks and bulbs), white bread, cooking oil (salad) and tomatoes increased by 7.46, 4.71, 4.62 and 4.55 percent, respectively, in December 2021. On the other hand, prices of lemons, peas (garden, snap, snow) and mangoes decreased by 4.11, 2.10 and 0.55 percent, respectively, over the same period. Notably, prices of food items in December 2021 were relatively high compared with prices of food items recorded in December 2020.

The Housing, Water, Electricity, Gas and Other Fuels’ Index, increased by 0.60 percent between November 2021 and December 2021. This was mainly attributed to the increase in prices of electricity (50 kilowatts) and electricity (200 kilowatts) that went up by 2.62 percent and 1.90 percent, respectively.

Transport Index increased by 1.11 percent mainly due to an increase in bus fares of country public service vehicles.

Read: November Inflation Highest Since April at 5.46 Percent – KNBS

>>> KNBS Appoints New Director General

Written by

FRANCIS MULI -

Editor and writer, Francis Muli has a passion for human interest stories. He holds a BSc in Communication and Journalism from Moi University and has worked for various organisations including Kenya Television Service. Email:[email protected]