Inflation in South Africa rose for the second month in a row in March, driven by food and non-alcoholic beverages which rose the highest in 14 years, transport and education fees.
Statistics SA (Stats SA) said today that the headline consumer price inflation (CPI) edged higher to 7.1% year-on-year in March, from 7% in February and 6.9% in January.
This was against market expectations of 6.9% and still above the upper limit of the SA Reserve Bank’s target range of 3%-6%.
On a monthly basis, consumer prices inched up by 1% in March, the most in eight months and above market forecasts of a 0.9% increase.
Stats SA chief director for price statistics Patrick Kelly said food inflation was the main driver of the increasing headline CPI where prices continued to accelerate by 14% in the 12 months to March, from 13.6% in February.
Kelly said this represented the largest annual increase since the 14.7% rise in March 2009.
“Milk, eggs and cheese, sugar, sweets and desserts, fruit and vegetables experienced upward inflationary pressure in March,” Kelly said.
“The milk, eggs and cheese product group witnessed its annual rate reaching 13.6% from the recent low of 3.7% in April 2022. The reading in March is the highest annual increase since February 2009’s print of 13.9%.
“(However,) bread and cereals, meat, oils and fats, and fish bucked the trend, recording slower growth.”
The transport index rose by 8.9% in the 12 months to March, down from the 9.9% annual rate recorded in February.
Stats SA said the downward shift was led by eight consecutive months of slowing fuel inflation, which reached 8.1% in March from 10.9% in February, much lower than the 56.2% peak in July 2022 at the height of the Russia-Ukraine war.
However, fuel prices rose by 4.5% between February and March, mainly due to the price of inland 95-octane petrol rising by R1.27 per litre.
Education fees, which are surveyed once a year in March, increased by 5.7% in 2023, higher than the 4.4% rise recorded in 2022.
Fees for primary and pre-primary schools increased by 6.3%, while those for secondary schools were up 5.8% and fees for tertiary institutions increased by 5.3%.
Other education-related products and services that recorded price increases include crèches, university boarding fees, textbooks, and school bags.
The 11.3% rise in textbooks is the largest annual increase since October 2009.
BUSINESS REPORT