The consumer price index (CPI) continues to track marginally down, Statistics South Africa has said in its latest data assessment.
Stats SA recorded an annual increase of 5.2% in April, down from 5.3% in March and 5.6% in February.
Housing and utilities, miscellaneous goods and services, food and non-alcoholic beverages (NAB) and transport were the main drivers behind the headline rate in April.
The monthly change in the CPI was 0.3% in April, softer than the 0.8% rise recorded in March.
Annual inflation for food national alcoholic beverages (NAB) moderated further from 5.1% in March to 4.7% in April, representing a fifth consecutive month of decline.
Most food NAB sub-categories had witnessed lower annual rates, except for vegetables, fruit and hot beverages, said Stats SA.
On average, vegetable prices increased by 7.4% in the 12 months to April, higher than the 6.0% increase recorded in March.
Vegetable products that recorded relatively high price increases include potatoes, frozen potato chips, broccoli and beans. The annual rate for fruit rose from 3.3% in March to 4.5%, mainly driven by higher prices for bananas and apples. Hot beverage inflation increased marginally from 11.2% to 11.4%. The rates for instant coffee and black tea remain in double-digit territory.
Bread and cereal inflation continued to slow, declining for a 12th consecutive month in April.
The annual rate eased to 4.3% from 5.0% in March. Bread flour, cake flour, ready-mix flour, white bread, pasta, rusks, savoury biscuits and maize meal are cheaper than a year ago. The average price of a loaf of white bread was R18.43 in April 2024, down from R19.07 in April 2023. On the other hand, sharp price increases were recorded for rice, pizzas and pies, instant noodles and sweet biscuits. Annual rice inflation accelerated to 26.4%, the highest reading since May 2009 when the rate was 41.9%.
The annual rate for sugar, sweets and desserts cooled to 16.8% from 17.8% in March. Inflation for products such as white sugar, brown sugar, chocolates and jam remain elevated.
Egg inflation recorded its fifth consecutive month of decline after peaking at 39.9% in November 2023, then receding to 25.1% in April 2024. Except for whiteners, condensed milk, Gouda cheese and fresh cream, most products in the milk, eggs and cheese category recorded lower annual rates in April. This pulled overall inflation for the category down to 8.7% from 10.1% in March.
The annual rate for restaurants and hotels rose to 7.5% in April from 5.7% in March. Hotel prices jumped by 1.5% between March and April, taking the annual rate for hotels to 10.4%.
Fuel prices increased by a monthly 1.9%, pushing the annual rate to 9.0%. Inland 95-octane petrol was R25.12 per litre in April 2024, up from R22.97 in April 2023.1
