Economists predicted in November already that the inflation rate would start increasing again due to various factors.
The inflation rate crept up again in January after starting to increase since November after falling dramatically in October by 1%.
Statistics SA announced on Wednesday morning that the inflation rate for January was 3.2% in January compared to a year ago, up from 3% in December 2024. Inflation increased by 0.3% in January compared to December.
The main contributors to the 3.2% annual inflation rate were:
- housing and utilities that increased by 4.5% and contributed 1.1 percentage points
- food and non-alcoholic beverages that increased by 2.3% and contributed 0.4 of a percentage point, and
- restaurants and accommodation services that increased by 4.9% and contributed 0.3 of a percentage point.
In January, the annual inflation rate for goods was 2.4%, up from 1.9% in December, while for services, it was 4%, down from 4.2% in December.
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