Urban consumer price index (CPI), the core measure of inflation, rose to 9.2% year-on-year in February 2026, up from 6.3% in the same period last year, according to the latest data from the National Institute of Statistics Rwanda (NISR).

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The rise in consumer prices was driven mainly by increases in housing and utilities, service-related costs, and transport.

Housing, water, electricity, gas and other fuels — which account for 21 per cent of the CPI basket — increased by 12.3 per cent year-on-year.

Prices for restaurants and hotels rose by 19.9 per cent, reflecting rising service-sector costs, while transport prices increased by 8.6 per cent over the same period.

Food and non-alcoholic beverages, which carries the largest weight in the CPI basket (27 per cent), saw prices increase moderately to 4.6 per cent year-on-year.

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Key trends

The data show that the Local Goods Index, which measures price changes for domestically produced goods, rose by 9.3 per cent on an annual basis.

The Imported Goods Index, which tracks price changes for goods brought into the country, increased by 9.1 per cent over the same period.

Meanwhile, the Fresh Products Index, which captures price movements in perishable and largely unprocessed food items, rose by 5 per cent.

The Energy Index, which tracks price changes in household energy-related goods and services such as fuel and electricity, recorded the sharpest increase, rising by 20 per cent.