While economists expected inflation to drift slowly higher over the next few months, inflation for November surprised everyone.
Inflation surprisingly slowed in November to 3.5% from 3.6% in October, just after the latest inflation expectations survey also dropped to the lowest rate in 25 years after the Reserve Bank revised its inflation target to 3%.
Statistics South Africa (Statistics SA) announced the inflation rate for November in Pretoria on Wednesday morning, with a monthly change of 0.1% from October to November.
This chart shows how the inflation rate fluctuated over the years:
Annual inflation cooled in five of the 13 product categories, according to Statistics SA, most notably for transport, recreation, sport and culture and information and communication. Four categories registered no change, but food and non-alcoholic beverages, restaurants and accommodation services and alcoholic beverages and tobacco recorded higher rates.
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Softer inflation for fuel and used vehicles
Statistics SA pointed out that prices for used vehicles have been declining since August 2024. Used vehicles were on average 1.8% cheaper in November 2025 than in November 2024. New vehicles, on the other hand, were 1.2% more expensive.
The annual change for transport slipped to 0.7% in November from 1.5% in October, pulled lower by softer inflation rates for vehicles and fuel. Vehicle inflation was 0.9%, the lowest print in more than 12 years, since June 2013 when the rate was also 0.9%.
For fuel, prices dropped by 2.2% between October and November, bringing the annual rate for fuel down to 0.1%.
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Food inflation heated up again
Unfortunately, food inflation heated up again in November. Statistics SA says annual inflation for food and non-alcoholic beverages recorded its first increase in four months, quickening to 4.4% in November from 3.9% in October.
Meat prices increased on average by 12.2% in the 12 months to November, the highest annual rate since January 2018, when it was 13.4%. Beef products experienced high inflation for several months, and other meat products have now joined the fray, with pork, mutton, lamb, and sausage prices increasing faster.
The milk, other dairy products and eggs category recorded its sixth successive month of deflation. However, the rate slowly crept higher, from -1.6% in September to -1.5% in October and -1.2% in November. Full-cream and low-fat fresh milk occupied deflationary territory for most of 2025. Eggs also registered negative annual price changes since November 2024.
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Inflation for staples also lower
Statistics SA reports that inflation for cereal products moderated to an annual rate of 1.7% from 2.0% in October, with a monthly change of -0.6%. Prices for key staple cereals registered monthly declines, including white rice (-3.1%), maize meal (-0.8%) and white bread (-0.5%).
Although the index for oils and fats recorded inflation of 5.2% in November, up from 4.8% in October, margarine products registered negative monthly changes. Specifically, the price index for brick margarine dropped by 2.1% and for margarine spread by 0.1% between October and November.
This graph shows the food and beverage products that recorded the sharpest price increases and decreases in November:
