Inflation Eases Further to 6.2% in August

Annual inflation slowed to 6.2% in August 2026, down from 6.5% recorded in July, signalling a further easing in price pressures.

Zambia Statistics Agency - ZAMSTATS - Acting Statistician General, Chola Daka, says this means prices of goods and services increased by an average of 6.2% between August 2025 and August 2026.

Dr. Daka says the slowdown was mainly driven by price movements in food items, particularly cereals and mealie meal.

Annual non-food inflation also eased to 6.6% from 6.7% in July, largely due to price movements in fuels and lubricants.

Meanwhile, Zambia recorded a trade surplus of 4.1 billion Kwacha in July, slightly lower than the 4.2 billion Kwacha recorded in June.

Exports rose by 0.1% to 29.7 billion Kwacha, driven by increased earnings from raw materials, capital goods and consumer goods.

Non-traditional export earnings increased by 6.5% to 9.9 billion Kwacha, accounting for 33.3% of total exports.

However, traditional export earnings fell by 2.9% to 19.8 billion Kwacha, while refined copper earnings declined by 4.5% to 19.1 billion Kwacha.