Is your pay rise beating inflation in Rwanda?
Prices in Rwanda rose 13.8% in the year to July 2026. A pay rise below that leaves you worse off than before.
FRw1,000 of last year’s pay now goes as far as FRw879.10.
Measured on the Consumer Price Index, published by the International Monetary Fund.
Work out your own
Enter a salary and an offer and this will say what the offer is worth once the prices between those dates are taken off it.
What each offer is worth
With inflation at 13.8%, this is what FRw1,000 of salary becomes under each offer, and what that money actually buys. Anything under FRw1,000 in the last column is a cut however it is described.
| Offer | FRw1,000 becomes | Which really buys |
|---|---|---|
| 1% | FRw1,010.00 | FRw887.89 |
| 2% | FRw1,020.00 | FRw896.68 |
| 3% | FRw1,030.00 | FRw905.47 |
| 4% | FRw1,040.00 | FRw914.26 |
| 5% | FRw1,050.00 | FRw923.05 |
| 6% | FRw1,060.00 | FRw931.84 |
| 8% | FRw1,080.00 | FRw949.42 |
| 10% | FRw1,100.00 | FRw967.01 |
| 13.8%level | FRw1,137.53 | FRw1,000.00 |
The marked row is the offer that leaves you level. The last column is what each amount buys measured against prices a year ago, so it can be compared with the FRw1,000 you started from.
What it took to stand still, year by year
Inflation in Rwanda for each of the last ten years, and what a salary left alone was worth by the end of each of them. 2023 took the most, at 19.8%; 2021 took the least, at -0.4%.
| Year | Inflation | FRw1,000 fell to |
|---|---|---|
| 2016 | 7.2% | FRw933.06 |
| 2017 | 8.3% | FRw923.54 |
| 2018 | -0.3% | FRw1,003.12 |
| 2019 | 3.3% | FRw967.61 |
| 2020 | 9.9% | FRw910.33 |
| 2021 | -0.4% | FRw1,003.93 |
| 2022 | 17.7% | FRw849.70 |
| 2023 | 19.8% | FRw834.80 |
| 2024 | 1.8% | FRw982.61 |
| 2025 | 5.9% | FRw944.17 |
Inflation in a year is that year's average price level against the previous year's, which is the figure Rwanda's own statisticians publish.
Two things this does not account for
Tax. Every figure here is gross. A rise is taxed, so what reaches your account is less than the percentage suggests, and where thresholds are frozen a rise can move you into a higher band and take a larger share than the year before. A rise that beats inflation before tax can still leave you worse off after it.
Your own prices. Inflation is an average across everything a typical household buys. If your rent rose, or you drive a long way to work, or you heat a large house, your own figure is higher than the published one and the pay rise you need is bigger.