South Africa’s headline consumer inflation remained unchanged at 4.5% year-on-year in June. This is according to data from Statistics SA that showed that on a monthly basis prices inched up 0.4% from a 0.3% increase previously.
Inflation measures a general price level of goods and services.
Despite headline inflation remaining flat, core inflation, which excludes the prices of food, non-alcoholic beverages, petrol and energy was slightly higher than 4.3% annually.
“The biggest contributors to annual inflation are housing and food. Housing and utilities make up of almost one-quarter of Consumer Price Index and most of it is housing rental and cost of owning a house,” says Statistics South Africa’s Patrick Kelly.
The consumer price inflation rate for June, by Statistics South Africa, which came in at 4.5% year-on-year was relatively unchanged from May’s CPI.
On a month-on-month basis, the consumer price inflation rate was 0.4 % compared with 0.3 % in May. The main contributors to June’s consumer price inflation rate were food and non-alcoholic beverages; housing and utilities, as well as transport.
Provincial annual CPI rates ranged from 3.9% in the Eastern Cape, Free State and North West, to 5.3% in the Western Cape. This keeps the consumer price inflation rate in the middle of the Reserve Bank’s target band of inflation between 3.6%.