Food inflation in South Africa in September was again higher than expected
South Africa
Published Oct 23, 2021
Tridge summary
The Bureau for Food and Agricultural Policy (BFAP) has reported that food inflation in South Africa last month was higher than expected, at 6.6% year-on-year. Food inflation contributed 1.1 percentage points to the consumer price index headline inflation figure of 5% for the month. On the other hand, in month-on-month terms, September’s food inflation rate showed zero increase over the figure for August (which had also been higher than expected).
Original content
“Numerous driving factors highlighted in our previous inflation briefs remain relevant, such as high global commodity prices, high red meat prices on the back of lower slaughter numbers, [rand] exchange rate weakening and rising input costs,” noted BFAP. The only food category that saw a year-on-year decrease in prices was fruit, which recorded a decline of 2.1%. As in August, the food categories which recorded the highest year-on-year inflation in September were oils and fats (22.4%) and meat (10.3%). For other categories, the rates were 5.8% for sugar and sugar-rich foods, 5.5% for milk, cheese and eggs, 5.2% for fish, 4.2% for vegetables, 3.2% for bread and cereals and 2.8% for non-alcoholic beverages. In month-on-month terms, however the picture was different. No fewer than five of the above food categories registered price declines. They were fruit (down 1.2%), fish, meat and vegetables (all down by 0.2%), and non-alcoholic beverages (down 0.1%), while bread and cereals and ...
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