The cost of goods and services, as measured by the Consumer Price Index (CPI), continued to rise in April this year, with urban prices increasing by 6.3 per cent compared to the same month last year. A rise in restaurant and hotel prices is among the major contributors, according to the National Institute of Statistics of Rwanda (NISR). Urban CPI is the main headline index that gauge inflation. According to the latest index, published on May 10, urban CPI increased 1.2 per cent on monthly basis, while the annual average inflation rate between April 2025 and April 2024 was 5.4 per cent. Prices of restaurants and hotels rose by 14.7 per cent in the same period. ALSO READ: Consumer prices increased by 6.5% in March The prices of food and non-alcoholic beverages increased by 7.9 per cent, while prices of housing, water, electricity, gas and other fuels went up by 3.3 per cent. Transport prices grew by 3.8 per cent. Transport prices registered significant decline compared to April 2024 when they increased by 24.2 per cent on annual basis. ALSO READ: Transport dominates Rwanda’s 4.5% inflation in April 2024 Specifically in April 2025, rural CPI increased by 6.9 per cent on annual basis and 3 per cent on monthly basis. Other selected urban indices Overall, urban CPI is calculated based on approximately 1,622 products in 12 urban centres of Rwanda, according to NISR. The CPI publication highlighted five selected urban indices: local goods, imported goods, fresh products (food products which have season fluctuations, such as vegetables), energy and the core index. On an annual basis, prices of local goods increased by 7.1 per cent, imported goods increased by 4 per cent, fresh products went up by 14.6 per cent, energy decreased by 0.7 per cent and the core index (or the general index excluding fresh products and energy) increased by 4.4 per cent. On the monthly basis, the local goods index increased by 1.3 per cent, imported goods by 0.7 per cent, fresh products by 3.8 per cent, energy index registered a slight increase of 0.1 per cent and the core index had a moderate 0.4 per cent increment. While presenting the 2025/26 - 2027/28 budget framework paper to Parliament on Thursday, May 8, the Minister of Finance and Economic Planning, Yusuf Murangwa, said that inflation is expected to remain within the target range of 2 per cent to 8 per cent, as result of factors including good agricultural or food output. According to the National Bank of Rwanda (BNR), this target range is in line with the primary objective of its monetary policy to uphold price stability.
