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Zambia’s annual inflation rate slowed to 14.1 percent in June 2025, down from 15.3 percent recorded in May, signalling a moderation in the pace of price increases, the Zambia Statistics Agency (ZamStats) has announced.
Speaking during a media briefing in Lusaka on Thursday, Acting Statistician General, Sheila Mudenda, attributed the slowdown to reduced price pressures in both food and non-food categories.
“This means that on average, prices of goods and services increased by 14.1 percent between June 2024 and June 2025,” Mudenda said.
Read more: Zambia’s inflation rate slows to 15.3% in May 2025 as trade surplus improves slightly
She said that: “The decline was mainly influenced by price movements in key food items such as cereals, vegetables, and fruits, as well as lower increases in non-food items.”
Annual food inflation stood at 16.7 percent in June 2025, down from 17.9 percent in May, driven by falling prices of mealie meal, maize grain, rice, beans, and various fruits and vegetables.
She stated that non-food inflation also eased, dropping to 10.3 percent from 11.6 percent, due to slower price growth in vehicles, fuel, air passenger transport, and paraffin.
Of the overall 14.1 percent inflation rate, Mudenda stated that food and non-alcoholic beverages contributed 9.8 percentage points, while non-food items contributed 4.3 percentage points.
Within the non-food category, housing, water, electricity, gas and other fuels had the largest impact, contributing 2.2 percentage points.
Inflation declined across all provinces during the month under review.
Mudenda pointed out that Central Province recorded the highest annual rate at 16.0 percent (down from 18.0%), followed by Western Province at 16.7 percent (down from 17.1%).
Eastern Province had the lowest inflation rate at 10.7 percent.
She said in terms of contributions to the national inflation figure, Lusaka Province led with 4.3 percentage points, followed by Copperbelt (3.1 percentage points), Central (1.7), and Southern (1.2).
Mudenda stated that North-Western Province contributed the least at 0.5 percentage points.
On a monthly basis, she said inflation stood at 0.2 percent in June, slightly lower than the 0.3 percent recorded in May 2025.
On the international space, Zambia recorded a trade surplus of K1.5 billion in May 2025, up from K0.5 billion in April, driven by a strong increase in exports of domestically produced goods.
“Exports grew by 13.1 percent, from K26.7 billion in April to K30.2 billion in May,” Mudenda stated, citing increases in earnings from intermediate goods (12.1%), consumer goods (18.8%), capital goods (100.7%) and raw materials (9.9%).
Imports also rose by 9.4 percent, from K26.2 billion to K28.7 billion, largely due to higher bills for consumer goods (15.4%), capital goods (16.0%), and intermediate goods (4.8%).
Between January and May 2025, Mudenda said Zambia’s cumulative trade reached K273.6 billion, up 26.7 percent from K215.9 billion recorded in the same period of 2024.
She said export earnings over the period stood at K137.1 billion, with road transport accounting for the lion’s share at K130.9 billion (95.5%).
In terms of export volumes, Zambia shipped 3.27 million metric tonnes, with road transport again dominating at 2.68 million metric tonnes (81.8%).
Total imports for the five-month period amounted to K136.4 billion, with road transport representing K70.1 billion (51.4%), and air and rail transport accounting for smaller shares.
Mudenda said that the import volumes totalled 4.17 million metric tonnes, led by road transport at 2.03 million metric tonnes (48.8%).
She noted that while the country continues to enjoy a positive trade balance, sustained focus on value addition and diversified exports remains key to long-term economic stability.
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