Business
August inflation drops below 6%─── 12:38 Wed, 21 Sep 2016
Cape Town - Statistics South Africa announced on Wednesday that the country's annual consumer price index (CPI) was 5.9% in August 2016, down from 6.0% in July. The index dropped by 0.1% month-on-month (m/m) in August 2016.
Transport decreased from 0.5 of a percentage point in July to 0.3 of a percentage point in August. The index rose by 2.0% year-on-year (y/y).
Recreation and culture increased from 0.2 of a percentage point in July to 0.3 of a percentage point in August. The index rose by 6.7% y/y.
Food and non-alcoholic beverages contributed 0.1 of a percentage point in August. The index increased by 0.8% m/m, mainly due to a 5.1% hike in sugar, sweets and desserts and a 2.0% increase in bread and cereals.
Transport contributed -0.3 of a percentage point in August. The index decreased by 2.2% m/m, mainly due to the 99 cents per litre drop in the petrol price.
In August the CPI for goods increased by 6.1% y/y (down from 6.5% in July), and the CPI for services increased by 5.7% y/y (unchanged from July).
Provincial annual inflation rates ranged from 4.8% in Northern Cape to 7.8% in Limpopo.
On average, prices decreased by 0.1% between July 2016 and August 2016.
