Consumer inflation increased to 4.5% in May 2019, slightly up from the 4.4% recorded in April 2019, StatsSA said on Wednesday (19 June).
While the major contributor to the rise in overall inflation is the fuel price, there are a number of other notable increases.
According to the StatSA, a trend over 2019 has been the uptick in the prices of some basic foodstuffs.
Of the 34 products in the CPI basket that comprise the minimum food requirements for poverty analysis, 20 registered an annual increase above the 3.2% inflation rate recorded for food and non-alcoholic beverages in May.
Among these, 11 showed an increase above the monthly 0.3% rise for food and non-alcoholic beverages.
“In 2019, maize meal increased by 11.4% between January and May and by 1.4% between April and May,” Stats SA said.
“In May, annual inflation for tinned fish (excluding tuna) was 7.4%, and monthly prices were up by 1%. Also in May, mageu prices climbed by 8.5% (annual) and 0.6% (monthly) and cooking oil prices rose by 7.3% (annual) and 1.4% (monthly).”
Below BusinessTech looked at some of the other notable increases:
| Item | Category | May 2019 vs Apr 2019 | May 2019 vs May 2018 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Fuel | Transport | 3.3% | 11.6% |
| Water and other services | Housing and utilities | 0.3% | 10.9% |
| Cold beverages | Food and non-alcoholic beverages | 0.3% | 9.6% |
| Public transport | Transport | -1.2% | 9.5% |
| Vegetables | Food and non-alcoholic beverages | -1.3% | 8% |
| Bread and cereals | Food and non-alcoholic beverages | 0.8% | 7.8% |
| Wine | Alcoholic beverages | 0.6% | 7.8% |
| Electricity and other services | Housing and utilities | 0.0% | 6.8% |
| Sugar, sweets and desserts | Food and non-alcoholic beverages | -0.4% | 6.8% |
| Primary and secondary education | Education | 0.0% | 6.8% |
| Insurance | Miscellaneous | 0.0% | 6.5% |
| Tertiary education | Education | 0.0% | 6.2% |
Article: BusinessTech
