Uganda’s annual headline inflation rose to 3.8% in May 2025, up from 3.5% in April, according to the latest figures released by the Uganda Bureau of Statistics (UBOS). The increase was largely driven by rising prices in the services and other goods categories.
The annual core inflation, which excludes food, fuel, and metered utilities, climbed to 4.2% in May from 3.9% the previous month.
UBOS attributes the uptick in core inflation to two key components: Annual services inflation, which stood at 4.7% in May, though slightly down from 5.0% in April and Annual other goods inflation, which rose to 3.8%, up from 3.0% the previous month.
Manufacturing and Utilities Producer Prices Also Rise
UBOS also released data on the Producer Price Index (PPI) for manufacturing and utilities, which recorded an annual inflation of 1.1% in April 2025, a slight increase from 1.0% in March.
Within the manufacturing sector, several sub-sectors experienced notable changes: Manufacture of food products saw inflation increase to 4.7% in April, from 4.3% in March, Manufacture of sugar recorded a sharp rise to 7.3%, up from just 0.5% the previous month and Prepared animal feeds reversed a negative trend, moving from -12.3% in March to 0.6% in April.
Meanwhile, other areas saw a decline in inflation: Vegetable and animal oils and fats dropped to 8.2% in April from 12.4% in March, while Cement, lime and plaster registered deflation of -0.7%, down from 1.6% in March.
Utilities Sector Sees Slight Improvement
In the utilities sector, annual inflation stood at -2.9% in April 2025, improving from -3.5% in March. The key driver of this improvement was electric power generation, which, while still positive, saw a slowdown in inflation, from 8.3% in March to 7.1% in April.
Outlook
The continued rise in both headline and core inflation signals increasing cost pressures on consumers, even as certain sectors like electricity and some manufacturing sub-sectors show signs of easing. Economic analysts will closely monitor these trends for their potential impact on monetary policy and cost-of-living dynamics in the months ahead.
