Topic
Inflation and prices
Headline and food inflation, the annual average inflation rate, and the Reserve Bank's repo rate.
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South Africa's headline CPI was 4.5% year-on-year in September 2026, up from 4.4% in August and 4.3% in July; the index rose 0.4% between August and September. Inflation peaked at 5.0% in June, the highest since June 2024. Transport (10.8%, contributing 1.5 percentage points), housing and utilities (5.2%, 1.3 points) and insurance and financial services (5.4%, 0.6 points) were the main contributors. The SARB's inflation target is 3% with a tolerance band of ±1 percentage point.
Source: Statistics South Africa, Consumer Price Index September 2026. Source released . Checked on SA Data Hub . Original data: Stats SA. Any calculation shown is SA Data Hub's own processing.
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| Period | Value |
|---|---|
| May 2025 | 2.8% |
| Jun 2025 | 3.0% |
| Jul 2025 | 3.5% |
| Aug 2025 | 3.3% |
| Sep 2025 | 3.4% |
| Oct 2025 | 3.6% |
| Nov 2025 | 3.5% |
| Dec 2025 | 3.6% |
| Jan 2026 | 3.5% |
| Feb 2026 | 3.0% |
| Mar 2026 | 3.1% |
| Apr 2026 | 4.0% |
| May 2026 | 4.5% |
| Jun 2026 | 5.0% |
| Jul 2026 | 4.3% |
| Aug 2026 | 4.4% |
| Sep 2026 | 4.5% |
Food and non-alcoholic beverages inflation
1.2%Sep 2026. Up from 1.1% in Aug 2026.
Food and non-alcoholic beverage (NAB) inflation was 1.2% in September 2026, up from 1.1% in August and 0.9% in July, a second consecutive monthly increase. Meat inflation slowed to 0.7% (its lowest since March 2025) and cereal products recorded an eighth consecutive month of deflation (-1.9%).
Source: Statistics South Africa, Consumer Price Index September 2026. Source released . Checked on SA Data Hub . Original data: Stats SA. Any calculation shown is SA Data Hub's own processing.
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| Period | Value |
|---|---|
| May 2025 | 2.2% |
| Jun 2025 | 2.9% |
| Jul 2025 | 3.0% |
| Aug 2025 | 3.1% |
| Sep 2025 | 3.3% |
| Oct 2025 | 3.2% |
| Nov 2025 | 3.0% |
| Dec 2025 | 3.1% |
| Jan 2026 | 3.5% |
| Feb 2026 | 3.7% |
| Mar 2026 | 3.6% |
| Apr 2026 | 2.9% |
| May 2026 | 1.9% |
| Jun 2026 | 1.6% |
| Jul 2026 | 0.9% |
| Aug 2026 | 1.1% |
| Sep 2026 | 1.2% |
Annual average inflation
3.2%2025. Down from 4.4% in 2024.
South Africa's full-year average headline CPI for 2025 was 3.2%, the lowest annual average in 21 years, confirmed by Stats SA in January 2026. The annual average was 6.9% in 2022.
Source: Statistics South Africa, Consumer Price Index December 2025. Source released . Checked on SA Data Hub . Original data: Stats SA. Any calculation shown is SA Data Hub's own processing.
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| Period | Value |
|---|---|
| 2015 | 4.6% |
| 2016 | 6.4% |
| 2017 | 5.3% |
| 2018 | 4.7% |
| 2019 | 4.1% |
| 2020 | 3.3% |
| 2021 | 4.5% |
| 2022 | 6.9% |
| 2023 | 6.0% |
| 2024 | 4.4% |
| 2025 | 3.2% |
Repo rate
7.25%Sep 2026. Up from 7.00% in Jul 2026.
The repurchase (repo) rate is the benchmark interest rate set by the South African Reserve Bank's Monetary Policy Committee (MPC). It is the rate at which the SARB lends short-term money to commercial banks and is the primary instrument of inflation targeting.
Source: South African Reserve Bank, MPC Statement September 2026. Source released . Checked on SA Data Hub .
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| Period | Value |
|---|---|
| Jan 2022 | 4.00% |
| Mar 2022 | 4.25% |
| May 2022 | 4.75% |
| Jul 2022 | 5.50% |
| Sep 2022 | 6.25% |
| Nov 2022 | 7.00% |
| Jan 2023 | 7.25% |
| Mar 2023 | 7.75% |
| May 2023 | 8.25% |
| Jul 2023 | 8.25% |
| Sep 2023 | 8.25% |
| Nov 2023 | 8.25% |
| Jan 2024 | 8.25% |
| Mar 2024 | 8.25% |
| May 2024 | 8.25% |
| Jul 2024 | 8.25% |
| Sep 2024 | 8.00% |
| Nov 2024 | 7.75% |
| Jan 2025 | 7.50% |
| Mar 2025 | 7.50% |
| May 2025 | 7.25% |
| Jul 2025 | 7.25% |
| Sep 2025 | 7.00% |
| Nov 2025 | 6.75% |
| Jan 2026 | 6.75% |
| Mar 2026 | 6.75% |
| May 2026 | 7.00% |
| Jul 2026 | 7.00% |
| Sep 2026 | 7.25% |
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Inflation & CPI: Up to date
Stats SA, Consumer Price Index. Updated monthly. Last updated . Source (opens in a new tab)
- : Eight values corrected to the official rates in the Stats SA CPI history file (Table B2). Headline CPI: June 2025 3.2% to 3.0%, July 3.3% to 3.5%, August 3.4% to 3.3%, September 3.5% to 3.4%, October 3.3% to 3.6%, November 3.0% to 3.5%, December 3.2% to 3.6%. Annual average CPI for 2018: 4.6% to 4.7%.
- : CPI updated to September 2026 (headline 4.5%, food 1.2%; published 2026-10-21). Repo rate corrected from 6.75% to 7.25% (SARB MPC 2026-09-23). Correction: July 2026 MPC was a hold, not a hike. The hike was on 28 May 2026. Pre-April 2026 monthly CPI points not re-verified.
- : Inflation dataset metadata validated for monthly CPI release tracking.