Uganda’s inflation edges up to 3% in April

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Annual inflation rose to 3.0% in the 12 months to April 2026, according to the Consumer Price Index by the Uganda Bureau of Statistics (UBOS).

The modest pickup was driven mainly by higher energy costs. Samuel Echoku, head of the macroeconomic statistics department at UBOS, said commodity prices are going up both on an annual and a monthly basis.

“We have seen various factors, and one of them has been supply. We have seen commodities also respond to other factors, such as the price of fuel. So when it goes up, so do the prices of some of these commodities,” he said.

Month to month, saw inflation in April increase by 0.6% from 0.1% recorded in March. Annual inflation for Energy Fuel and Utilities (EFU) climbed to 6.1% in April from 4.1% the previous month.

Liquid energy fuels led the increase, with their inflation rate jumping to 7.7% from 2.8%. Petrol prices rose 8.7% on an annual basis in April compared with 4.4% in March. Diesel recorded a sharper 10.8% increase against 3.0% the month before, while kerosene prices went up 7.5% versus a near-flat 0.1% in March.

Charcoal, which is widely used for cooking, also saw prices rise 9.0% in the year to April, slightly faster than the 8.1% pace recorded in March. Officials say the overall inflation rate remains low by historical standards, but the acceleration in fuel-related costs could start feeding through to transport and household expenses in coming months.