After stalling at 4.7% in April and May, the annual rate for food & non-alcoholic beverages (NAB) edged lower to 4.6% in June. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Food and NAB inflation has declined from its recent peak of 14.0% in March 2023. June\u2019s reading is the lowest since September 2020 \u2013 45 months ago, at the peak of the COVID-19 lockdowns\u2014when the rate was 3.8%.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Several food and NAB categories registered lower annual rates in June, including sugar, sweets, and desserts; vegetables; fruit; milk, eggs, and cheese; and fish. <\/p>\n\n\n\n However, inflation quickened for hot beverages<\/strong>, bread and cereals, oils and fats, cold beverages, and meat.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The annual rate for bread & cereals saw its first increase in 14 months, rising to 5.2% in June from 3.9% in May. <\/p>\n\n\n\n The monthly rate was 1.5%, with notable increases for maize products such as maize meal (up 3.3%) and samp (up 3.0%). <\/p>\n\n\n\n For some context, the producer price index (PPI) for final manufacturing, which measures prices at the factory gate, recorded a 7.2% monthly (4.6% annual) increase for maize products in May. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Maize in the agriculture PPI increased by an annual 23.8%. PPIs are often leading indicators of the CPI, so the data suggest that elevated inflation for maize-based products is widespread.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The milk, eggs, and cheese category has experienced six months of slower inflation. The rate for June was 7.3%, down from 14.5% in December 2023. Annual egg inflation recorded its seventh consecutive month of decline, cooling to 20.4%.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The graphs below show food and beverage products that recorded the most significant annual and monthly price increases in June.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Other notable price changes<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Housing & utilities recorded an annual inflation rate of 5.5% in June, lower than 5.8% in May. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Housing rentals are surveyed quarterly. Actual rentals increased by 0,8% in the second quarter of 2024 compared with the first quarter. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Imputed rentals edged higher by 0.7% over the same period. Townhouses recorded the highest quarterly change at 1.5% (actual rentals) and 1.2% (imputed rentals). Domestic worker wages registered a quarterly rise of 1.6%.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Annual transport inflation cooled to 5.5% in June from 6.3% in May. New vehicle inflation slowed to 5.2% from a recent high of 8.4% in September 2023. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Data from Naamsa indicates that there is lower demand for new passenger vehicles, with sales declining by 9.0% year-on-year in June.1 Inflation for used vehicles was 3.0%, down from 3.7% in May.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Fuel prices dropped by 4.6% between May and June, bringing the annual rate to 7.6% from 9.3%.<\/p>\n\n\n\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/Inflation-June-2024.jpg\")
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