South Africa’s Inflation Leveling Out

By Xinhua 

September 21, 2023

The annual consumer inflation in South Africa increased slightly to 4.8 percent in August from 4.7 percent in July after falling for four straight months, with the consumer price index (CPI) going up 0.3 percent month on month in August, according to the statistics released Wednesday by Statistics South Africa (Stats SA).

The latest statistics show that food and non-alcoholic beverage (NAB) inflation remained low, easing some of the pressure on the headline rate.

The annual inflation for food and NAB fell for the fifth consecutive month in August, easing from 9.9 percent in July to 8.0 percent. The annual rate for bread and cereals was 9.9 percent as compared with 13.1 percent in July, according to Stats SA.

Jannie Rossouw, a professor at Wits University, said that food inflation going down is good as many lower-income households spend the bulk of their income on food.