Rwanda’s Inflation Climbs to 13.6% in June, Driven by Higher Health and Energy Costs
Rwanda’s annual inflation rate accelerated to 13.6 percent in June 2026, up from 12.9 percent in May, driven largely by sharp increases in health, transport and housing costs, according to the latest Consumer Price Index (CPI) released by the National Institute of Statistics of Rwanda (NISR).
The CPI, the country’s main measure of inflation, showed that prices continued to rise across most major spending categories compared with the same period last year.
Health recorded the steepest annual increase, with prices surging by 71.2 percent, while transport costs rose by 26 percent. Housing, water, electricity, gas and other fuels increased by 20.5 percent, reflecting continued pressure on household living costs.
Prices in restaurants and hotels climbed by 15.9 percent year-on-year, while alcoholic beverages, tobacco and narcotics rose by 13 percent over the same period.
Food and non-alcoholic beverages, one of the largest components of household spending, increased by 7.5 percent compared with June 2025. However, the category registered a slight monthly decline of 0.3 percent from May 2026.
On a month-to-month basis, transport recorded the largest increase among major expenditure groups, rising by 1.2 percent. Housing, water, electricity, gas and other fuels increased by 0.7 percent, while restaurants and hotels, as well as alcoholic beverages, tobacco and narcotics, each rose by 0.6 percent. Health prices edged up by 0.1 percent during the month.
The data further show that prices of locally produced goods increased by 14.7 percent year-on-year and by 0.4 percent compared with the previous month. Imported products recorded a 10.5 percent annual increase and a 0.5 percent monthly rise.
Fresh products became 9.1 percent more expensive than a year earlier but remained unchanged on a monthly basis.
Energy prices continued to register the sharpest increase among the special indices, rising by 44.8 percent annually and by 0.3 percent from May.
Meanwhile, the general index excluding fresh products and energy, often used to measure underlying inflation trends, increased by 12.3 percent year-on-year and by 0.6 percent on a monthly basis.
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