Inflation up again in January
Inflation increased again in January from 5.1% in December to 5.3%, mainly thanks to increases in the prices of food and nonalcoholic beverages, housing and utilities, miscellaneous goods and services and transport.
According to Statistics SA, food and nonalcoholic beverages increased by 7.2% and contributed 1.3 percentage points; housing and utilities increased by 5.7% and contributed 1.3 percentage points; miscellaneous goods and services increased by 5.4% and contributed 0.8 of a percentage point; and transport increased by 4.6% and contributed 0.7 of a percentage point.
In January, the annual inflation rate for goods was 6.6%, up from 6.4% in December 2023, and for services 4.0%, up from 3.8%.
The categories in the consumer price index basket that increased the most on a yearly basis were restaurants and hotels at 8.0%, food and nonalcoholic beverages at 7.2%, and health at 6.5%.
Restaurant-related product groups that recorded relatively high annual increases in January included fish and seafood products that cost 9.9% more, red meat-based products that cost 9.7% more and hamburgers that cost 8.6% more.
Although fuel prices were lower in January, they were still higher than a year ago. The annual rate for fuel jumped from -2.5% in December to 3.3% in January, contributing to a sharp increase in annual transport inflation to 4.6% from 2.6% in December.
However, inflation for several transport categories cooled in January.
Public transport tariffs decreased by 2.0% in January compared to December, dragged lower by monthly price decreases for long-distance buses (down 21.2%), car rental (down by 12.1%) and air fares (down by 4.1%).
But food inflation cooled for a second consecutive month, with annual inflation for food and nonalcoholic beverages slowing to 7.2% in January from 8.5% in December and 9.0% in November 2023.
All the subcategories also recorded lower annual rates, but the annual rate for sugar, sweets and desserts increased from 17,9% in December to 18.5% in January.