{"id":753697,"date":"2024-02-21T10:28:59","date_gmt":"2024-02-21T08:28:59","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/?p=753697"},"modified":"2024-02-21T10:35:39","modified_gmt":"2024-02-21T08:35:39","slug":"inflation-ticks-higher-bad-news-for-eating-out-in-south-africa","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/finance\/753697\/inflation-ticks-higher-bad-news-for-eating-out-in-south-africa\/","title":{"rendered":"Inflation ticks higher – bad news for eating out in South Africa"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Consumer Price Inflation (CPI) has ticked up at the start of 2024, but softening food prices provide some relief for cash-strapped consumers. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Stats SA said that CPI increased from 5.1% in December to 5.3% in January – in line with market expectations. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The monthly change in CPI was 0.1% in January. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The categories with the largest annual price increases were restaurants & hotels at 8.0%, food & non-alcoholic beverages (NAB) at 7.2%, and health at 6.5%.<\/p>\n\n\n

\n
\"\"<\/a><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n

Although there was a monthly decline of 5.2% in fuel prices, this was not enough to subdue the annual rate for fuel, which increased from -2.5% in December to 3.3% in January. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

This led to a sharp rise in annual transport inflation from 2.6% in December to 4.6% in January. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Inflation for several other transport categories also cooled in January, as the end of the festive decreased public transport tariffs decreased by 2.0%, dragged down by monthly price decreases for long-distance busses (down 21.2%), car rental (down 12.1%) and airfares (down 4.1%).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Wine and Dine pain <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Prices for the restaurants and hotels group increased by 8.0% in the year to January, up from December\u2019s print of 7.0%. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Restuarant-related product groups that saw high annual increases included fish & seafood products (up 9.9%), red meat-based products (up 9.7%) and hamburgers (up 8.6%).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

After a jump in the festive season, hotel room rates dropped by 2.1% on a month-to-month basis. Despite this decrease, hotel room prices still increased by 10.7% on a year-to-year basis. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Food inflation cools <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Annual inflation for food and non-alcoholic beverages decreased from 8.5% in December to 7.2% in January, with all sub-categories, except for sugar, sweets & desserts, oils & fats, and cold beverages, seeing a decline. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The annual rate for sugar, sweets & desserts increased from 17.9% in December to 18.5% in January, with the annual increase in white sugar (20.1% in December to 21.2% in January) driving the upward momentum.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Prices at factories were also elevated, with the December producer price index (PPI) showing sugar inflation at 23.5%, with raw cane sugar growing by 36.7% and refined sugar by 18.8% over the last year. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Annual inflation for bread & cereal products reduced from 7.5% in December to 6.5% in January, while meat inflation also softened from 3.9% to 2.2%.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Other changes <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Other notable changes included the annual inflation for miscellaneous goods and services, which ticked up from 5.1% in December to 5.4% in January. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Increasing bank fees led to a 5.5% annual rise in financial services. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n
The cheapest bank accounts in South Africa 2024: Capitec vs FNB vs Absa vs Nedbank vs Standard Bank and more<\/a><\/blockquote>