South Africa’s food price inflation was lower than many countries in August, but it is rising faster than in other regions.
In its monthly Food Inflation Brief, the independent Bureau for Food and Agricultural Policy (BFAP) said local meat and poultry price increases were being driven by global factors, including continued high feed prices, as well as the weakening of the local currency.
While noting that international food prices have declined (the world food price index has now dropped for six successive months) it expects South African prices to remain high for a while.
They will possibly taper off towards the end of the year “due to limited scope for consumers to absorb further price increases”.
BFAP said the price of food and non-alcoholic beverages had risen by 11.3% in July, compared to the previous year. It listed foods that had increased by 6% – 10% in the year to July, and those whose prices had risen by more than 10%. The higher rate included most vegetables and some meat cuts. Chicken portions were in the lower category.
