Lifestyle

The most expensive province to buy groceries in South Africa

Staff Writer

 ·5 Jan 2026

Johannesburg in Gauteng remains the most expensive city among South Africa’s three major metros for groceries for the seventh consecutive month.

At the end of December 2025, Johannesburg is followed by Durban (KZN) and then Cape Town (Western Cape) when it comes to grocery prices.

According to data from the Pietermaritzburg Economic Justice and Dignity (PMBEJD) group, which tracks the cost of a household food basket across the three major provinces and the Northern Cape.

When expanding the analysis to smaller towns like Springbok (Northern Cape), Mtubatuba (KZN) and Pietermaritzburg (KZN), it becomes evident that outlying and remote areas of the country pay a premium at the tills.

This results in Springbok actually paying more than R100 for a basket of goods than consumers in Johannesburg, but other factors—like transport and scarcity—are typically at play here.

For the major metros, which are also more populous and more representative of pricing, Johannesburg, Gauteng, remains the most expensive.

The PMBEJD looks at a basket of 44 food items that are most commonly purchased by households in South Africa.

The basket reflects the purchases of households that make up the vast majority of the country’s population.

For December 2025, the total cost of this basket averaged R5,333.45, a 1.5% decrease from the previous month and a 0.9% decrease from the same period in 2024.

Of the 44 food items tracked in the basket, 19 items decreased in price year-over-year, while 23 items increased. Two items remained flat.

While more products experienced price inflation than not, the increases were mainly limited to low single-digit levels.

Some notable increases included beef (up 21%), oranges (up 20%), butternut squash (up 16%), beef liver (up 16%), and gizzards (up 12%).

This was offset by steep double-digit decreases in other products, such as potatoes (-26%), rice (-22%), cabbage (-17%), eggs (-16%), and onions and sugar beans (-12%).

The PMBEJD’s data reflects “on the ground” pricing ahead of the official inflation figures published by Stats SA.

The latest inflation data from Stats SA (November 2025) showed that food & non-alcoholic beverages (NAB) inflation rose that month, increasing to 4.4% from 3.9% previously.

Rising beef prices primarily drove this trend, although spikes were also recorded across multiple protein sources, including chicken, pork, and lamb.

Analysis of the red meat industry for December showed that this inflationary pressure continued, reflected in the steep price increases tracked by the PMBEJD.

The most expensive provinces

Using the major metros as proxies, Gauteng followed the national trend, with its basket coming out 1.2% cheaper month-on-month and 0.3% cheaper year-on-year in December.

The cost of the Joburg household food basket decreased by R66.08 from R5,604.49 in November 2025 to R5,538.42 in December 2025.

The same food basket decreased by R17.27 from R5,555.68 in December 2024.

Of the 44 food items tracked by the PMBEJD, 24 are most expensive in Joburg among the major metros, including eggs, wors, maize, and white and brown bread.

The Western Cape experienced a significantly larger drop in prices, falling 3.1% and 1.1% month-over-month (m-o-m) and year-over-year (y-o-y), respectively.

The cost of the Cape Town household food basket decreased by R163.90 from R5,349.17 in November 2025 to R5,185.27 in December 2025.

Year-on-year, the basket decreased by R60.15, from R5,245.41 in December 2024.

Across the 44 food items, 11 were the most expensive in Cape Town, including sugar, cooking oil, chicken and oranges.

People living in KwaZulu-Natal experienced essentially flat pricing, with only a 72-cent difference between November and December, and a 1% drop year-on-year.

The cost of the Durban household food basket increased by R0.72 (0.0%) from R5,305.74 in November 2025 to R5,306.47 in December 2025.

The same basket decreased by R54.19 from R5,360.65 in December 2024.

Durban had nine of the most expensive items, with potatoes, beef, fish, apples and margarine costing more than the other major metros.