South Africa’s food inflation ended 2024 below the country’s general inflation rate as measured by the consumer price index (CPI), according to the latest figures from StatsSA.
Both numbers were at very low levels compared to previous years. Despite a slight uptick from November, CPI was 3% in December, while food inflation was even lower at 2.5%.
Food inflation ballooned from April 2022, following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine which caused global spikes in prices of food, fuel and fertiliser. By March 2023, food inflation had risen to 14%, way ahead of CPI at 7%.
Both have declined steadily since then, with food inflation dropping below CPI in March 2024.
StatsSA said South Africa average inflation rate for 2024 was 4.4%, down from the average of 6% in 2023.
“Inflation in 2024 was the lowest in four years since the pandemic in 2020, when the average rate was 3.3%,” it stated.
