Johannesburg - South Africa's headline producer inflation accelerated more than expected to 6.5 percent year-on-year in December from 5.8 percent in November, Statistics South Africa said on Thursday.
Economists polled by Reuters had predicted PPI would quicken to 6.2 percent.
Prices at the factory gate rose by 0.5 percent on a month-on-month basis in December compared with 0.2 percent previously, against market forecasts of another 0.2 percent rise.
Stats S.A. releases five industry-specific producer price indices, with final manufactured goods representing the headline number.
December November
y/y m/m y/y m/m
Final manufactured goods 6.5 0.5 5.8 0.2
Intermediate manufactured goods 8.1 -0.4 7.5 0.1
Electricity and water 14.3 -1.7 15.8 0.0
Mining and quarrying 2.4 -0.8 1.4 1.5
Agriculture, forestry and fishing 4.1 1.5 2.8 2.5
Exported commodities 4.1 1.0 1.3 0.4
Imported commodities 7.0 0.2 7.1 0.9 - Reuters