South Africa’s annual headline inflation rate climbed slightly to 2,9% in November according to the latest data released by Statistics South Africa on Wednesday.
However, here was no change in the consumer price index between October and November despite the month-on-month increase in annual inflation from 2.8% for the period.
Annual inflation for food and non-alcoholic beverages (NAB) saw another sharp decline in November, slowing to 2,3% from 3,6% in October.
“This marks the lowest inflation rate for the category since December 2010, when it stood at 1,6%. Eight of the 11 food and NAB groups registered lower rates, including vegetables; milk, eggs and cheese; hot beverages; bread and cereals; cold beverages; meat; sugar, sweets and desserts; and the miscellaneous category ‘other’ food. Fish inflation was flat, while oils and fats and fruit recorded steeper price increases,” said Stats SA.
Fuel increased by 0,9% m-o-m in November, taking the annual rate to 13,6% from 19,1% in October. This means that fuel priced declined over the past year despite the recent m-o-m increase.
The price index for the restaurants and hotels category rose by 5,9% in the 12 months to November, with increases recorded for both restaurants (5,1%) and hotels (7,5%). Annual inflation for restaurants and hotels is down from the recent high of 7,5% in June this year.
Stats SA calculates inflation rates for ten expenditure categories, providing insight into the impact of inflation on various socio-economic groups.
The poorest households (decile 1) have shouldered the highest inflation rate since January 2022, peaking at 11,3% in April 2023. This declined to 3,8% in November 2024 but remains the highest across all expenditure categories. By contrast, the wealthiest households (decile 10) registered an annual increase of 3,0% in November, slightly above the headline inflation rate.
In November the provinces with the highest inflation rates were Western Cape (3,4%), Free State (3,2%) and KwaZulu-Natal (3,1%). Inflation in the Western Cape remained above the headline rate for the period January to November 2024. Limpopo (2,4%) and Mpumalanga (2,5%) recorded the lowest rates in November.
