The inflation rate for June was 5.1%, down 0.1% from May when it was 5.2%, remaining within the 5% to 6% range for the past 10 months.
Food inflation was the lowest in 45 months in June, the lowest since September 2020 at the peak of the Covid lockdown, when the rate was 3.8%.
According to Statistics SA, after stalling at 4.7% in April and May, the annual rate for food and non-alcoholic beverages edged lower to 4.6% in June after peaking at 14.0% in March 2023.
Several food and non-alcoholic beverage categories registered lower annual rates in June, including sugar, sweets and desserts, vegetables, fruit, milk, eggs and cheese and fish, although inflation quickened for hot beverages, bread and cereals, oils and fats, cold beverages and meat.
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