Annual Inflation Rate for March 2026 slows down to 7.1 percent
The Annual Inflation rate for March 2026 slowed down to 7.1 percent from 7.5 percent recorded in February 2026. This means that on average, prices of goods and services increased by 7.1 percent between March 2025 and March 2026. This was reported today by the Statistician General, Mrs. Sheila Mudenda during the dissemination of the March Statistics Bulletin.
She added that annual food inflation also dropped to 7.8 percent in March 2026 from 8.2 percent in February 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 imported, Wheat Plain Household Flour); Fruit (Lemons, Apples, Water Melon, Avocadoes); Vegetables (Lumanda, Cassava leaves, Tomatoes, Cucumber, Sweet potatoes, Green pepper, Maize cobs) and Cooking oil.
The Statistician General further noted that non-food inflation went down to 5.9 percent from 6.5 percent in February. She said this was largely influenced by prices of materials used in the maintenance and repair of homes, including cement, building sand, paint, floor tiles and glass. Fuel prices, such as diesel, petrol and paraffin, as well as the cost of motor vehicles, also contributed to the trend.
Mrs. Mudenda also reported that Zambia’s economy grew by 1.6 percent in the fourth quarter of 2025 down from 8.3 percent recorded in the fourth quarter of 2024. This represents a decrease of 6.7 percentage points in the growth rate compared to the same quarter in 2024. The growth in the 4th Quarter of 2025 was mainly attributed to the performance of the following industries; Agriculture, forestry & fishing and Construction (1.7%), Manufacturing (1.2%) and Transportation and Storage (0.9%).
Speaking during the briefing, the Statistician General also reported that preliminary annual GDP at constant 2010 prices for the year 2025 shows that the economy grew by 3.8 percent. The preliminary Annual GDP estimates are derived as the sum of the four quarters.
She also pointed out that cumulative total trade decreased by 5.6 percent in February 2025 from K105.2 Billion to K99.3 Billion in February 2026
Mrs. Mudenda emphasized that these findings are important for guiding planning and decision-making, as they give a clear picture of how the economy is performing.
