South Africa’s consumer inflation continued its downward trend, with the consumer price index dropping to 5.1 percent in June from 5.2 percent in May, according to Statistics South Africa (Stats SA) data released on Wednesday.
Patrick Kelly, chief director for price statistics at Stats SA, noted that the consumer price index had persistently stayed between 5 and 6 percent over the past 10 months.
In June, South Africa’s annual food inflation reached its lowest point in 45 months, the data revealed. According to Xinhua news agency, Patrick Kelly reported that food and non-alcoholic beverage inflation had decreased to 4.6 percent after peaking at 14 percent in March of the previous year.
Housing and utilities saw an annual inflation rate of 5.5 percent in June, down from 5.8 percent in May. Transport inflation also eased to 5.5 percent in June, compared to 6.3 percent the previous month. Additionally, fuel prices fell by 4.6 percent in June, reducing the annual inflation rate for fuel from 9.3 percent to 7.6 percent.