The inflation rate increased by 0.1% from October, when it was 2.8% and again by 0.1% in December according to Statistics SA.
Inflation creeped up by another 0.1% in December to 3% from 2.9% in November, in line with economists warning that the big decrease of 1% in October will not be sustained and that inflation will start to increase again.
According to Statistics SA, which released the figure for December on Wednesday, the main contributors to the 3% annual inflation rate were:
- housing and utilities that increased by 4.4% and contributed 1 percentage point
- miscellaneous goods and services that increased by 6.6% and contributed 1 percentage point
- food and non-alcoholic beverages that increased by 2.5% and contributed 0.5 of a percentage point and
- alcoholic beverages and tobacco that increased by 4.3% and contributed 0.3 of a percentage point.
In December, the annual inflation rate for goods was 1.9%, up from 1.6% in November, while services were 4.2%, down from 4.3% in November.
Statistics SA says the average annual consumer price inflation for 2024 was 4.4%, the average CPI for all urban areas compared to 2023. This was 1.6 percentage points lower than the corresponding average of 6,0% in 2023.
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