sa headline inflation climbs to 29

Sa Headline Inflation Climbs To 2.9

South Africas 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.

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 January2022, peaking at 11,3 in April2023. This declined to 3,8 in November2024 but remains the highest across all expenditure categories. By contrast, the wealthiest households decile10 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 November2024. Limpopo 2,4 and Mpumalanga 2,5 recorded the lowest rates in November.