Stats SA reveals that poor households are grappling with high cost of living

JOHANNESBURG - Poor households across the country are still grappling with the high cost of living, adding to several other challenges.  

Statistics South Africa (Stats SA) released the latest inflation print on Wednesday, with annual headline inflation creeping up for the first time in nine months.  

It came up to 2.9% in November, up from 2.8% in the previous month.  

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Stats SA calculates inflation rates for ten expenditure categories, providing insight into the impact of inflation on various socio-economic groups.  

Chief Director for price statistics at Stats SA, Patrick Kelly, said the poorest households have shouldered the highest inflation rate since January 2022, peaking at 11.3% in April 2023.  

“This declined to 3.8% in November 2024 but remains the highest across all expenditure categories. By contrast, the wealthiest households registered an annual increase of 3.0% in November, slightly above the headline rate.”  

In terms of provinces, Kelly said Western Cape has the highest inflation rate.  

“In November, the provinces with the highest inflation rates were Western Cape [3.4%], Free State [3.2%] and KwaZulu-Natal [3.1%]. Inflation in Western Cape remained above the headline rate for the period January to November 2024. Limpopo [2.4%] and Mpumalanga [2.5%] recorded the lowest rates in November.”