{"id":829795,"date":"2025-06-30T07:10:34","date_gmt":"2025-06-30T05:10:34","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/?p=829795"},"modified":"2025-07-30T10:00:36","modified_gmt":"2025-07-30T08:00:36","slug":"most-expensive-province-to-buy-groceries-in-south-africa-3","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/lifestyle\/829795\/most-expensive-province-to-buy-groceries-in-south-africa-3\/","title":{"rendered":"Most expensive province to buy groceries in South Africa"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

In June 2025, Johannesburg continues to be the most expensive city in South Africa\u2019s three major metros for groceries, followed by Cape Town and then Durban.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This is 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.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The PMBEJD report found that while 10 of the 44 tracked food items became cheaper or saw no increases year-on-year, 34 experienced price hikes, and seven items saw double-digit inflation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Additionally, inflation remained unchanged in May 2025 at 2.8%, which was recorded in April. In its latest inflation report, Stats SA warned<\/a> that some food items recorded higher annual rates in May.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The increase was driven by higher inflation in key categories like food and non-alcoholic beverages. Food NAB inflation rose to 4.8%.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This was the highest annual rate since March 2024 (recorded at 5.1%), increasing by 0.8% from April.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

According to Stats SA, the rise in Food NAB was due to higher meat prices, particularly beef products like stewing beef, mince, and steak.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Meat, especially beef, is a key reason for the rise in food inflation. The annual rate for meat jumped from 3.0% in April to 4.4% in May. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

In April, monthly increases for beef products ranged from 6.2% to 11.9%. In May, notable increases were recorded for beef steak, up 4.5%, stewing beef, up 2.5% and beef mince, up 1.7%. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cA widespread outbreak of foot-and-mouth disease, combined with higher feed prices, contributed to the rise in beef inflation,\u201d said Stats SA. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The fish & other seafood category recorded an annual increase of 4.9% in May, up from 4.8% in April. Hake stands at 9.1% and fish fingers at 6.1%, which is more expensive than a year ago. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The annual rate for oils and fats was 5.6%, the highest since April 2023\u2019s 10.0%. Sunflower oil recorded a yearly increase of 7.6% and brick margarine 7.9%.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Maize meal and samp also continue to record high price increases. The annual rate for cereal products stood at 4.5% in May, with double-digit inflation registered for maize meal (14.2%) and samp (20.6%).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Most expensive city for groceries<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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As of the end of June 2025, the cost of a household food basket, comprising 44 essential items that reflect typical purchasing patterns, reached R5,443.12. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

This is a 3.6% annual increase of R190.36 compared to June 2024. Month-on-month, the basket price also increased by R23.46, or 0.4%, compared to May 2025.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This annual increase is higher than the latest consumer price inflation rate of 2.8%, showing food costs remain a significant concern for many South Africans, especially in urban areas where grocery prices continue to increase.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A breakdown of costs by region further highlights that the change in food prices is higher in some areas than others. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

In June 2025, the household food basket cost R5,648.85 in Johannesburg, a 2.0% increase of R108.97 from the previous year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This is R38.38 more than the recorded basket price of R5,559.46 in April. It also surpasses the national average by R205.73, making Johannesburg the most expensive metro for groceries.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The monthly data showing an increase in prices in Johannesburg means the cost of food is rising in 2025, as indicated by Stats SA\u2019s data.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In comparison, Durban remains the cheapest city for groceries, although it still recorded an increase year-on-year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Durban\u2019s food basket, recorded at R5,312.22, decreased by R115.65 (2.1%) from R5,427.87 in May 2025.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The city\u2019s annual increase was higher, recorded at 3.6% or R184.39 from R5,127.83 in June 2024. However, this is still 6.3% or R336.63 less expensive than Johannesdurg.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Meanwhile, Cape Town\u2019s food basket has seen significant annual increases, far higher than in Johannesburg and Durban.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Cape Town\u2019s food basket decreased by R31.95 (0.6%) from R5,316.56 in May 2025 to R5,397.23 in May 2025.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Year-on-year, the Cape Town household food basket cost increased by a notable R296.48 (5.8%) from R5,100.74 in June 2024.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Despite the significant increases, Cape Town is still R251.62 cheaper than Johannesburg and R45.89 cheaper than the national average.<\/p>\n\n\n

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<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

This is the most expensive major city in South Africa to buy food in as of June 2025.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":92,"featured_media":781462,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9876],"tags":[853,1809,22130],"class_list":["post-829795","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-lifestyle","tag-south-africa","tag-stats-sa","tag-the-pietermaritzburg-economic-justice-and-dignity-pmbejd"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/829795","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/92"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=829795"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/829795\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":833519,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/829795\/revisions\/833519"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/781462"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=829795"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=829795"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=829795"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}