THE annual inflation for July 2026 was recorded at 6.5 percent, maintaining the same rate recorded in June 2026. And the national average price of a 25 kg bag of breakfast mealie meal decreased by 7.53 percent from K272.66 to K252.13, while the price of a 25 kg bag of roller mealie meal decreased by […]

THE annual inflation for July 2026 was recorded at 6.5 percent, maintaining the same rate recorded in June 2026.

And the national average price of a 25 kg bag of breakfast mealie meal decreased by 7.53 percent from K272.66 to K252.13, while the price of a 25 kg bag of roller mealie meal decreased by 8.96 percent from K222.19 to K202.28 in July compared to June 2026.

Speaking during a briefing, Thursday, Zambia Statistics Agency (ZamStats) Statistician General Sheila Mudenda said the maintenance of the inflation rate was mainly attributed to price movements in prices of food items such breakfast mealie meal and roller, meal among others.

“Annual inflation for July 2026 was recorded at 6.5 percent same as that recorded in June 2026. This means that on average, prices of goods and services increased by 6.5 percent between July 2025 and July 2026. Annual food inflation for July 2026 was recorded at 6.4 percent compared to 6.7 percent in June 2026. This means on average prices of food items increased by 6.4 percent between July 2025 and July 2026. This was mainly attributed to price movements in prices of food items such as cereals (breakfast mealie meal, roller mealie meal, maize grain, rice local, wheat plain household flour), fresh milk, sugar, cooking oil and eggs,” she said.

“The annual non-food inflation for July 2026 was recorded at 6.7 percent compared to 6.0 percent in June 2026. This outturn was mainly attributed to price movements in prices of non-food items such as furniture and furnishings (coffee table, wardrobe, dining suite), parrafin, charcoal and purchase of vehicles”.

She added that Lusaka Province accounted for the highest contribution to the inflation rate.

“Disaggregation of annual inflation by province indicates that, during the month under review, annual inflation increased for; Central (6.3 percent from 6.0 percent); Copperbelt (5.9 percent from 5.8 percent); Lusaka (8.7 percent from 8.4 percent); North-Western (5.8 percent from 5.7 percent), and Western (6.0 percent from 5.2 percent) provinces. Annual inflation declined for Luapula (3.9 percent from 4.0 percent); Northern (5.5 percent from 5.8 percent) and Southern (5.7 percent from 6.5 percent). Annual inflation remained the unchanged for Eastern Province at 5.0 percent of the overall annual inflation rate of 6.5 percent, Lusaka Province accounted for the highest contribution at 2.5 percentage points, followed by Copperbelt Province at 1.3 percentage points. Central and Southern Provinces contributed 0.7 and 0.6 percentage points respectively, while Luapula and North Western Provinces recorded the lowest contributions at 0.2 percentage points each,” Mudenda said.

Mudenda said the annual national average price of a 20-litre tin of maize grain decreased by 12.32 percent from K113.86 to K99.83.

“On a monthly basis retail prices between June 2026 and July 2026 showed that the national average price of a 25 kg bag of breakfast mealie meal decreased by 7.53 percent from K272.66 to K252.13. The price of a 25 kg bag of roller mealie meal decreased by 8.96 percent from K222.19 to K202.28. The monthly national average price of a 20-litre tin of maize grain decreased by 9.90 percent from K110.80 to K99.83. On an annual basis, retail prices between July 2025 and July 2026 showed that the national average price of a 25kg bag of breakfast mealie meal decreased by 8.45 percent from K275.39 to K252.13 while that of a 25 kg bag of Roller Mealie Meal decreased by 8.89 percent from K222.02 to K202.28. The annual national average price of a 20-litre tin of maize grain decreased by 12.32 percent from K113.86 to K99.83,” Mudenda said.

Mudenda said the cumulative total trade for the period January to June 2026 was K304.0 billion while that of 2025 for the same period was K323.5 billion, representing 6.0 percent decrease.

“Cumulative total trade for the period January to June 2026 was K304.0 billion while that of 2025 for the same period was K323.5 billion, representing 6.0 percent decrease. The total value of exports via all modes of transport for the period January to June 2026 was K165.0 billion. road transport accounted for the highest value at K158.1 billion representing a 95.8 percent share. air transport was second with K3.6 billion (2.2 percent) and rail transport was third with a value of K1.4 billion (0.8 percent),” Mudenda said.

“The total volume of exports via all modes for the period January to June 2026 was 5.0 million Mt, of which road transport accounted for the highest volume with 4.0 million Mt, representing 79.6 percent. Rail transport accounted for 16.7 thousand Mt, representing 0.3 percent. Air transport accounted for 2.1 thousand Mt (0.04 percent), while other modes accounted for 994.9 thousand Mt (20.0 percent)”.

Mudenda said the country recorded a trade surplus of K4.2 billion in June, 2026 compared to the surplus of K7.0 billion recorded in May, 2026.

“The country recorded a trade surplus of K4.2 billion in June 2026 compared to the surplus of K7.0 billion recorded in May 2026. Exports mainly comprising domestically produced goods, decreased by 1.6 percent from K30.1 billion in May 2026 to K29.6 billion in June 2026. This was mainly on account of decreases in export earnings from raw materials by 10.4 percent, intermediate goods by 0.3 percent, and capital goods by 17.3 percent. Imports increased by 10.2 percent from K23.1 billion in May 2026 to K25.4 billion in June 2026. This was mainly as a result of increases in import bills of consumer goods by 57.1 percent raw materials by 19.5 percent and intermediate goods by 1.4 percent,” said Mudenda.