The cost of living measure dropped by 101 basis points last month to 4.7 per cent from 5.71 in December, latest data shows.
Data by the Kenya National Bureau of Statistics indicates lower food and fuel prices recorded in January resulted in a decline in the overall monthly inflation.
The monthly survey released yesterday shows the food and non-alcoholic drinks index went up by 1.62 per cent due to the marginal increase in some food prices.
However, a number of items on the food basket including bananas, sugar, mangoes, beans, wheat flour and grade-2 rice were priced slightly lower last month compared to December. When compared to the same period last year, maize grain, loose maize flour and sifted maize flour recorded the largest price decline of 40.58, 32.58 and 29.04 per cent respectively. Last January, inflation was recorded at 4.83.
A two-kilogramme packet of sifted maize flour cost Sh87.20 last month, a slight increase from Sh86.55 in December. This was however a significant drop from Sh122.88 in January last year.
A kilo of mangoes cost Sh122, a 7.69 per cent drop from Sh132.16 while a kilo of beans retailed at Sh108.64, 6.08 per cent down from Sh115.67 over the same period in 2018.
The transport index decreased by 1.4 per cent as a result of lower fuel pump prices resulting in a slight decrease in public transport costs.
The Energy Regulatory Commission during its monthly review reduced pump prices with a litre of Super Petrol, Diesel and kerosene dropping Sh9.33, Sh10.04 and Sh3.53 per respectively.
This saw Super Petrol retail at Sh104.21 per litre in Nairobi down from Sh113.54 announced in December 2018. A litre of Diesel dropped to Sh102.24 while Kerosene eased to Sh101.70.