{"id":458678,"date":"2021-01-04T17:30:57","date_gmt":"2021-01-04T15:30:57","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/?p=458678"},"modified":"2021-01-04T17:31:12","modified_gmt":"2021-01-04T15:31:12","slug":"food-prices-saw-a-massive-jump-in-2020-heres-what-got-more-expensive-in-south-africa","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/finance\/458678\/food-prices-saw-a-massive-jump-in-2020-heres-what-got-more-expensive-in-south-africa\/","title":{"rendered":"Food prices saw a massive jump in 2020 – here’s what got more expensive in South Africa"},"content":{"rendered":"

The latest research<\/a><\/strong> from the Pietermaritzburg Economic Justice and Dignity Group (PEJDG) shows that food prices rose by 17% over the course of 2020, spiking much higher than inflation for the year.<\/p>\n

In December 2020, the total price of a basket of food to feed a family in a month was at R4,002.42, marginally lower than the same basket in November (R4,018.22).<\/p>\n

However, when comparing a like-for-like basket of goods between December 2020 and December 2019, a family would be paying almost R520 more.<\/p>\n

Worryingly, the price hikes are being driven by a number of staple and ‘core’ foods in the basket. These are food items which are purchased first by most families in South Africa, which take priority over more ‘luxury’ items.<\/p>\n

Here, items like sugar beans, rice, bread and flour have seen price hikes between 31% and 68%. Fresh fruit and vegetables – necessary for a nutritionally complete diet – have also seen major price increases.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Very few items tracked by the PMBEJD saw actual price decreases over 2020 – only seven items in the basket.<\/p>\n

Salt saw the biggest price drop (over 20%), with meat products like chicken pieces, gizzards, beef and polony also bringing some relief to the bill.<\/p>\n

The PMBEJD’s research comes in the context of millions of South African households that are still struggling through the Covid-19 pandemic and the long-lasting effects of the national lockdown implemented almost a year ago to combat the spread of the virus in the country.<\/p>\n

The lockdown decimated South Africa’s economy and led to record levels of unemployment and businesses closures in the country – while government aid and stimulus have been severely lacking.<\/p>\n

Special social grants and the UIF TERS payments have slowly faded, leaving millions of South Africans without money to get by.<\/p>\n

The PMBEJD’s basket of 44 food items is what households in low-income areas have identified as necessary to feed their families in a month.<\/p>\n

At R4,000, this is far higher than what a single-income family on minimum wage (R3,500) could afford, and is out of reach of the 30.4 million people (55.5% of the population) who are living below the upper-bound poverty line of R1,268 per month.<\/p>\n

The data also shows that the reality of food prices off the shelves do not exactly meet up with inflationary movements tracked by government agencies like Stats SA.<\/p>\n

Inflation<\/strong><\/p>\n

Statistics South Africa published its latest consumer price index in December, showing that annual consumer price inflation was 3.2% in November 2020, down from 3.3% in October 2020.<\/p>\n

The main contributors to the 3.2% annual inflation rate were food and non-alcoholic beverages, housing and utilities, and miscellaneous goods and service, the statistics body said.<\/p>\n

\u201cFood and non-alcoholic beverage prices continued to climb, recording an aggregate annual increase of 5.8%, up from 5.4% in October. Food inflation contributed one percentage point to November\u2019s headline rate of 3.2%.\u201d<\/p>\n

Some of the largest annual price increases (November 2019 vs November 2020) were recorded for the following goods and services:<\/p>\n