Zambia’s annual inflation rate has ticked down slightly to 6.1 percent in September 2026, marking a modest 0.1 percentage point drop from the 6.2 percent recorded in August.

“This means that on average, prices of goods and services increased by 6.1 percent between September 2025 and September 2026. This development was mainly attributed to price movements in food items,” said ZamStats Statistician General Sheila Mudenda.

Mudenda noted that annual food inflation eased slightly to 5.8% in September 2026, down from 6.0% in August.

She disclosed that key drivers of this price movement included core food items such as cereals (breakfast and roller mealie meal, maize grain, local rice, and plain flour), vegetables (okra, cabbage, tomatoes, cucumber, and green pepper), groundnuts, and dried beans.

Comparatively, the Statistician-General noted that non-food annual inflation remained steady at 6.6%, unchanged from August 2026.

“This rate was primarily driven by price movements in passenger air transport including domestic, regional, and international routes such as Lusaka to London via Dubai as well as vehicle purchases.”

Local economists say the subtle deceleration signals a period of relative price stabilization across key consumer goods and services, giving both households and market operators a brief breath of predictability heading into the final quarter of the year.