South Africa’s CPI inflation lowest since December 2023

Annual consumer price inflation in South Africa has eased to 5.1% in June from 5.2% in the preceding two months, data by Statistics South Africa showed.

It has been the lowest inflation rate since December 2023.

Last month, inflation eased for:

– food and non-alcoholic beverages (4.6% YoY from 4.7% YoY in May);
– housing and utilities (5.5% YoY from 5.8% YoY in May);
– healthcare (5% YoY from 5.3% YoY in May);
– recreation and culture (2.2% YoY from 2.9% YoY in May);
– transport (5.5% YoY from 6.3% YoY in May).

At the same time, inflation picked up for:

– household contents and services (2.6% YoY from 1.8% YoY in May);
– restaurants and hotels (7.5% YoY from 6.5% YoY in May).

Meanwhile, the country’s annual core CPI inflation, which excludes volatile categories such as food and non-alcoholic beverages, fuels and energy, decelerated to 4.5% in June from 4.6% in May. It has been the lowest core inflation rate since December 2023.

The South African Rand was 0.73% weaker on the day against the US Dollar, with the USD/ZAR currency pair last trading at 18.4288 ahead of the preliminary US GDP estimate for Q2.