Lower food prices check inflation in October

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A decline in food prices like bread, eggs, cassava and passion fruits in October 2025 ensured an annual inflation decline from 4% in September to 3.4% in October 2025, the latest performance of the economy report by the finance ministry indicates.

The report released on November 17, 2025, shows that both annual core and food crop inflation reduced in October.

Core inflation is the rate at which prices are rising in the economy, excluding sharply fluctuating items like food and energy.

Food crop inflation is when crop prices rise. It happens when the cost of producing or acquiring food rises due to factors such as poor weather, rising energy prices, supply chain issues, and increased input costs like fertiliser and fuel.

"The decline was partly attributed to a slowdown in the rate at which the cost of services increased," the report reads. 

The report says these services, included accommodation services (3.2 per cent in October from 4.5 per cent in September), motor vehicle servicing (0.4 per cent in October from 33.3 per cent in September) and transport services (1.0 percent in October from 3.3 percent in September). 

The decline was also attributed to a reduction in prices for manufactured foods, coupled with a slowdown in price increases for some other manufactured foods. Manufactured foods that recorded a decline in prices included simsim, bread, eggs, cassava flour and sugarcane.

The report adds that annual food crop and related items inflation reversed its previous spike, dropping to 6.1 per cent from the 7.4 per cent recorded a month earlier. 

"This was attributed to a reduction in prices for a number of food crops as well as a slowdown in rates of price increases for some other food crops". 

Food crops that recorded a reduction in prices included passion fruits, oranges, other citrus fruits and onions. Food crops that recorded a slowdown in the rate at which prices increased included matooke, sweet potatoes, papaya, pineapples and tomatoes.