Archive note: Lusaka Brief launched in September 2026. This entry was added retrospectively so the record of a significant national moment is preserved. It is based on reporting and official statements that were publicly available at the time.
Zambia's annual inflation rate slowed to 6.2% in August 2026, the Zambia Statistics Agency reported on 27 August — down from 6.5% in July and a new low since February 2018, moving closer to the lower bound of the central bank's 6–8% target band.
Food inflation eased to 6.0% from 6.4%, while non-food inflation dipped marginally to 6.6%. Monthly inflation held steady at 0.2% for a second consecutive month, helped by the resilient kwacha.
There was measurable relief at the staple end: the national average price of a 25kg bag of breakfast mealie meal fell 3.24% month-on-month to about K244 — down 6.38% on a year earlier — while roller meal dropped about 5% to K192.
The data lands ten days after Zambians handed President Hichilema a second term. Inflation fell from around 23% to the current level across his first term; the second-term promise is that the statistics now convert into felt prosperity. Mealie meal moving in the right direction is the first place voters will look.
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