{"id":652693,"date":"2022-12-21T07:00:27","date_gmt":"2022-12-21T05:00:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/?p=652693"},"modified":"2022-12-21T07:00:38","modified_gmt":"2022-12-21T05:00:38","slug":"how-much-more-youre-paying-for-breakfast-in-south-africa","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/lifestyle\/652693\/how-much-more-youre-paying-for-breakfast-in-south-africa\/","title":{"rendered":"How much more you’re paying for breakfast in South Africa"},"content":{"rendered":"

It costs 12.4% more to fry up a traditional farmhouse breakfast in South Africa compared to a year ago, as the cost of living continues to rise in the country.<\/p>\n

Using the South African Breakfast Index \u2013 an index tracking the month-to-month prices of ingredients used to make breakfast in the country \u2013 the basket of items needed to make breakfast now totals R399.84 in November 2022, up 12.4% from R355.72 in November 2021.<\/p>\n

The South African Breakfast Index is an adaptation of similar indices created abroad. Used by Hard Assets Investor (HAI) in the US and Bloomberg in the UK, it is a price indicator that measures inflation in wholesale food prices.<\/p>\n

The prices used in the South African index come from Consumer Price Inflation (CPI) numbers tracked by Statistics South Africa. The reason breakfast is chosen is that it is a common meal that many households in the country would make and is reflective of the real impact of price inflation on daily life.<\/p>\n

Stats SA published the latest CPI data for November 2022 on Wednesday (14 December), showing a slight easing in inflation – down to 7.4% from 7.6% the month before.<\/p>\n

However, this was not the case for food price inflation which continued an upward climb, rising to 12.5% for the month from 12% in October.<\/p>\n

This means that even though inflation appears to be easing, the real-world impact on households will tell a different story.<\/p>\n

According to Stats SA, the jump in food prices represents the seventh consecutive month of accelerating price inflation. This rising trend is mainly driven by inflation in bread & cereals, which reached an annual rate of 19.9% in November, up from 19.5% in October. This is notably higher than the modest 2.3% recorded in November 2021.<\/p>\n

The average price of a 2.5 kg bag of maize meal was R34.08 in November, up from R33.82 in October and R25.59 12 months ago. On average, the price for a loaf of white bread increased to R18.68 in November from R18.54 in October. A year ago, the price was R15.68.<\/p>\n

The annual rate for meat was 10.5% in November, unchanged from 10.5% in October. Bacon and other pork products increased by 6.4% and 1.9%, respectively, between October and November.<\/p>\n

Prices of milk, eggs & cheese products rose by 10.9% in the 12 months to November, slightly higher than the rate recorded in October (10.5%). Coffee whitener increased by 4.6% between October and November and full cream long-life milk by 2.4%.<\/p>\n

The annual rate of change for the oils & fats index declined for the third consecutive month, decreasing to 24.8% from 25.7% in October. The average price for a 750 ml bottle of sunflower oil was R38.12 in November, lower than the peak of R45.33 recorded in July.<\/p>\n

Breakfast Index<\/strong><\/p>\n

It\u2019s within the food basket that the Breakfast Index is rooted.<\/p>\n

The November index shows that the overall cost to make breakfast (for however many people the basket could conceivably feed) is R399.84, up 1.1% month-on-month from R395.68 in October\u00a02022.<\/p>\n

Year-on-year, the basket is up 12.4% from R355.72 in November 2021.<\/p>\n

In line with overall CPI findings, bread is a sizeable contributor to the higher price, up 20% from last year \u2013 but it\u2019s actually the instant coffee that has seen the biggest climb at 26%.<\/p>\n

Bacon, sausage and milk have all seen significant hikes, up between 12% and 14%, while tomatoes have also increased significantly in price, up 21% from last year.<\/p>\n

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The basket includes ten items:<\/p>\n