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Zambia’s annual inflation rate for September 2025 slowed to 12.3 percent from 12.6 percent in August, the Zambia Statistics Agency (ZamStats) has announced.
Speaking during a media briefing in Lusaka on Thursday, Acting Statistician General, Sheila Mudenda, said the decline was due to reduced price pressures in both food and non-food categories.
“This means that on average, prices of goods and services increased by 12.3 percent between September 2024 and September 2025,” Mudenda stated.
Read more: Zambia’s inflation eases to 12.6% as trade surplus falls to K0.4 billion
Annual food inflation stood at 14.6 percent, down from 14.9 percent in August, driven mainly by lower prices of cereals such as breakfast and roller mealie meal, maize grain, samp, and wheat flour, as well as selected fruits, vegetables, cooking oil, and eggs.
“The slowdown in food inflation was mainly attributed to reduced prices of items such as breakfast and roller mealie meal, maize grain, samp, wheat flour, and selected fruits and vegetables,” she said.
Mudenda said that non Non-food inflation dropped to 9.0 percent in September from 9.3 percent in August. This was linked to slower price increases in household appliances, pharmaceutical products, domestic airfares, and accommodation.
She said by provincial contribution, Lusaka Province accounted for the highest share of overall inflation at 3.8 percentage points, followed by Copperbelt at 2.6. Central and Southern provinces contributed 1.4 and 1.1 percentage points, while Luapula and North-Western recorded the lowest at 0.5 each.
On a monthly basis, inflation remained unchanged at 0.5 percent. Food inflation slowed slightly to 0.5 percent from 0.6 percent, while non-food inflation rose to 0.5 percent from 0.4 percent.
The average price of a 25kg bag of breakfast mealie meal dropped marginally from K260.59 in August to K260.34 in September, while roller mealie meal rose from K202.74 to K203.52.
Mudenda indicated that the price of a 20-litre tin of maize grain increased by 7.23 percent from K111.59 to K119.66.
On an annual basis, she said food staples showed notable declines.
“A 25kg bag of breakfast mealie meal fell by 22.08 percent, roller mealie meal by 30.18 percent, and maize grain by 28.90 percent compared to the same period in 2024,” Mudenda said.
ZamStats data also showed that the country recorded a K3.3 billion trade surplus in August 2025, compared to K0.4 billion in July.
Mudenda said exports rose by 12.2 percent to K29.8 billion, while imports increased by 1.4 percent to K26.5 billion.
Cumulative trade for the period January to August 2025 stood at K364.1 billion, representing an 18.8 percent increase from K432.4 billion recorded in the corresponding period of 2024.
Exports for the same period amounted to K216.3 billion, with road transport accounting for the largest share at K203.9 billion (94.2 percent), followed by air transport at K7.4 billion (3.4 percent) and rail transport at K1.1 billion (0.5 percent).
Imports between January and August 2025 totalled K216.1 billion, with Mudenda saying that road transport again dominating at K112.4 billion (52 percent), followed by air transport at K12.3 billion (5.7 percent), and rail at K1.4 billion (0.6 percent). Other modes accounted for K90 billion (41.7 percent).
In terms of volume, exports reached 5.8 million metric tonnes (Mt), with road transport contributing 4.6 million Mt (80 percent). Imports stood at 7.2 million Mt, with road transport accounting for 3.4 million Mt (47 percent) and other modes contributing 3.7 million Mt (51.5 percent).
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