Annual food inflation figure drops to four-year low

JOHANNESBURG - Stats SA said that annual food inflation had dropped to its lowest in almost four years.

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.

Stats SA released the latest inflation data on Wednesday.

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Chief director for price statistics, Patrick Kelly, said that cooler inflation for sugar, eggs, cheese and milk helped to bring the rate down.

"The milk, eggs & cheese category has experienced six months of lower inflation. The rate for June was 7.3%, down from 14.5% in December 2023. Annual egg inflation recorded its seventh consecutive month of decline, cooling to 20.4%."

But he said that hot beverages were among categories that steamed up.

"The monthly change was 2.2%, driven by sharp price increases for drinking chocolate, up 3.5%, black tea, up 2.7%, instant coffee, up 2.2%, and rooibos tea, rising by 1.6%. The annual rate for bread & cereals saw its first increase in 14 months, rising to 5.2% in June from 3.9% in May."