South Africa Inflation Down to 7.6% in August – The First Inflation Drop in 2022

Sunflower oil is up over 55% YoY (highest non-food) while beetroot is up over 40% YoY (highest food)

Inflation slowed down to 7.6% from 7.8% in July 2022 on the back of dropping fuel prices, Stats ZA said.

According to the official government body, fuel prices decreased by 3.8% between July and August 2022, with petrol falling by 5.0% and diesel by 0.9%. As a result, the annual rate for fuel went down to 43.2% from 56.2% in July 2022. This also played an impact on transportation prices, which declined by 1.0% within the same period.

While inflation declined for the first time since January 2022, prices of food and non-alcoholic beverages increased by 11.3% in August 2022 from 9.7% in July 2022.

Annual food and NAB inflation has climbed significantly from the recent low of 6.0% in April this year and has remained above 5.0% since October 2020. – Stats ZA

9 out of 11 food and non-alcoholic beverage categories recorded an annual inflation rate above 8.0% in August 2022, with these key food items increasing significantly in the last month:

  • Maize Meal –  4.8%
  • Cake flour – 3.9%
  • Bread and Cereals – 3.1%
  • Brown bread – 2.2%

Hot beverage prices steamed to their highest annual rate in 64 months at 11.8% (compared with 12.1% in April 2017), stirred up by monthly increases in rooibos tea (7.6%) and instant coffee (3.9%). – Stats ZA

Prices for milk, eggs & cheese increased by 2.1% between July and August 2022. Products with higher than average monthly increases include:

  • Cheddar cheese (3.1%)
  • Low-fat milk (2.9%)
  • Full cream milk (2.6%)

Below is a list of products that saw the highest monthly and annual increases:

South Africa Monthly & Annual Price Increases

Annual meat inflation eased slightly from 9.4% in July 2022 to 9.2% in August 2022 with a monthly increase of 0.7%.

According to Stats ZA, annual meat inflation has remained above 8.0% since May 2021.

Also increasing significantly are household detergents, in particular, washing powder which was 26.2% more expensive than a year ago. Laundry soap has since increased by 33.9% compared with August 2021 and the price of dishwashing liquid has climbed by 13.6% over the same period.

Overall, the price index for cleaning and maintenance products increased by 23.4% over the past 12 months.

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