The South African consumer price inflation (CPI) slightly moderated to 7.4% in November from the previous month’s 7.6%.
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The Statistics South Africa said the monthly change in the CPI was 0.3% in November, slightly lower than the 0.4% recorded in October.
The three categories with the highest annual inflation rates in November were transport (15.3%), food and non-alcoholic beverages (NAB, at12.5%) and hotels and restaurants (7.9%).
Stats SA said: “Food and NAB inflation climbed to 12.5% in November from 12.0% in October, representing the seventh consecutive month of accelerating price inflation.
"This rising trend is mainly driven by inflation in bread and cereals, which reached an annual rate of 19.9% in November, up from 19.5% in October. This is notably higher than the modest 2.3% recorded in November 2021."
During this period, the average price of a 2.5 kg bag of maize meal was R34.08 in November, up from R33.82 in October and R25.59 a year (12 months) ago. On average, the price for a loaf of white bread increased to R18.68 in November from R18.54 in October. A year ago, the price was R15.68.
“The annual rate for meat was 10.5% in November, unchanged from 10.5% in October. Bacon and other pork products increased by 6.4% and 1.9%, respectively, between October and November.
“Prices of milk, eggs and cheese products rose by 10.9% in the 12 months to November, slightly higher than the rate recorded in October (10.5%). Coffee whitener increased by 4.6% between October and November and full cream long life milk by 2.4%,†said the agency.
The annual rate of change for the oils and fats index declined for the third consecutive month, decreasing to 24.8% from 25.7% in October. The average price for a 750 ml bottle of sunflower oil was R38.2 in November, lower than the peak of R45.33 recorded in July.
The transport index recorded its fourth consecutive month of disinflation, with the annual rate declining to 15.3% in November from 17.1% in October.
This is largely the result of falling fuel prices in recent months, with annual inflation reaching 25.3% in November, compared with 30.1% in October.
However, fuel prices increased by 3.2% between October and November, a smaller rise than the 7.1% jump between October and November 2021. Used vehicle prices continue to increase rapidly, with monthly increases of approximately 1.3% since the beginning of this year.
Prices charged by restaurants and hotels increased by 7.9% in the year to November. Restaurant prices increased by 7.0% and hotels by 10.1%.
Electronic goods feature in different CPI categories and several of these experienced large monthly price changes. Examples include laptops (1.6%), cell phones (1.7%) and digital cameras (5.3%). Television prices, however, declined by 1.5%. ■