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Zambia’s annual inflation rate eased to 12.6 percent in August 2025 from 13 percent in July, as the country’s trade surplus narrowed to K0.4 billion.
According to the Zambia Statistics Agency (ZamStats), the slowdown in inflation was driven by price movements in both food and non-food items, indicating that overall consumer prices rose by 12.6 percent between August 2024 and August 2025.
ZamStats Acting Statistician General, Shiela Mudenda, said during media briefing on Thursday that food inflation for August stood at 14.9 percent compared to 15.3 percent in July.
She attributed the decline to lower price movements in items such as cereals, fruits, and fresh milk.
Non-food inflation also fell slightly to 9.3 percent from 9.7 percent, largely due to reduced price movements in spare parts and fuel.
Read more: Inflation climbs 15.7%, as Zambia suffers K1.3 billion trade deficit
Provincially, Lusaka contributed the highest to overall inflation at 3.9 percentage points, followed by Copperbelt at 2.7 percentage points.
Central and Southern provinces accounted for 1.4 and 1.2 percentage points, respectively, while North-Western Province recorded the lowest contribution at 0.5 percentage points.
Month-on-month inflation rose to 0.5 percent in August from 0.1 percent in July, Mudenda added.
On trade, the country recorded a surplus of K0.4 billion in July 2025, compared to a deficit of K5.3 billion in June. Exports of domestically produced goods increased by 22.8 percent, rising from K21.6 billion in June to K26.6 billion in July.
“This was mainly due to increased export earnings from intermediate goods at 24.6 percent, consumer goods at 27.2 percent, and capital goods at 134.4 percent,” Mudenda said.
Meanwhile, imports rose by three percent, from K26.1 billion in June to K26.9 billion in July, largely due to higher bills for intermediate goods at 6.8 percent and materials at 3.2 percent, despite a 6.4 percent decline in consumer goods imports.
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