According to official statistics released on Wednesday, South Africa’s monthly inflation rate fell 0.4 percentage points to 5.1% in December. The National statistics agency StatsSA said that the average inflation rate for 2023 was 6.0%, 0.9 percentage points lower than in 2022 and matching the upper limit of the central bank’s specified target range.
“Inflation was relatively hot in the first five months of 2023 (January-May), with the headline rate consistently above 6.0 per cent,” says the Bureau of Economic Analysis.
In December, the inflation rate for food and nonalcoholic drinks was 8.5%, down from 9.0% in November. StatsSA also reported that fuel costs have fallen by 2.7%.
However, the central bank has set an inflation target of three to six percent and held the main interest rate constant at 8.25 percent in November.
