{"id":882094,"date":"2026-10-30T09:08:50","date_gmt":"2026-10-30T07:08:50","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/?p=882094"},"modified":"2026-10-30T09:35:06","modified_gmt":"2026-10-30T07:35:06","slug":"the-most-expensive-city-to-buy-groceries-in-south-africa-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/lifestyle\/882094\/the-most-expensive-city-to-buy-groceries-in-south-africa-2\/","title":{"rendered":"The most expensive city to buy groceries in South Africa"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Food prices have largely managed to stay below inflation rates this year, but one city still stands out for having the highest grocery prices in South Africa.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In September 2026, the Consumer Price Index (CPI), the standard measure of inflation, was 4.4%, down from August’s 4.5%.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Inflation has been elevated in 2026, peaking in June at 5%, and consistently being above South Africa’s 3% inflation target.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The high inflation has largely been attributed to surging fuel prices following the outbreak of conflict in the Middle East in February.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The war between the US and Iran led to the closure of the Strait of Hormuz, a key global shipping route for oil tankers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This led to global oil prices soaring, consistently reaching above $100 per barrel and exceeding $112 on the morning of 30 October 2026.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

While high fuel costs have driven South Africa’s overall inflation upwards, food inflation has remained largely unaffected.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In September, food and non-alcoholic beverages inflation was 1.2% year-on-year, and declined slightly by 0.1% from the previous month.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

To get a clearer picture of food prices in South Africa, the Pietermaritzburg Economic Justice and Dignity (PMBEJD) household affordability index provides specific information on the prices of a grocery basket.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The index tracks the prices of several staple items to show how food prices change over time for a majority of South African households.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

These items include maize, milk, potatoes, a variety of fruits and vegetables, bread, and several other common items.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

According to the PMBEJD, the price of a basket of groceries increased by 0.4% from September to October, and 1.3% year-on-year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The largest price increase came from butternut, which rose by 26%, along with onions, oranges, tomatoes, and margarine.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Soup, spinach, and cabbage were the three food items which declined in price by more than 5% month-on-month.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The most expensive city<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
\"\"<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The PMBEJD affordability index tracks prices in several cities and found that Springbok in the Northern Cape had the highest grocery basket cost.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The index tracks grocery prices across seven cities, including:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    \n
  • Johannesburg<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  • Durban<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  • Cape Town<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  • Springbok<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  • Pietermaritzburg<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  • Mtubatuba<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  • Mthatha<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n

    In Springbok, the average weighted cost of a household food basket was R5,848.83, R82.12 higher than the second most expensive city, Johannesburg.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    The cheapest city for groceries based on the PMBEJD’s weighted average was Pietermaritzburg, at R5,207.31.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Across all seven cities, the average cost of a household basket of groceries was R5,512.53.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    PMBEJD has argued that this average price for groceries is unattainable for many South African households, especially those which earn the national minimum wage.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    The group said that after transport and electricity costs are factored in, a family of four cannot survive on a single person earning the hourly minimum wage of R30.23.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    “The National Minimum Wage is a poverty wage – it harms workers’ health, it reduces productivity in the workplace, and slows down economic growth,” the group said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    It said that, after transport and electricity costs, a family of four living on this wage would be approximately 44% below the national food poverty line.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    \n\n\n\n

    Average weighted grocery price by city<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
    <\/td>October 2026<\/strong><\/td>October 2025<\/strong><\/td>Month-on-month change %<\/strong><\/td>Year-on-year change %<\/strong><\/td><\/tr>
    Springbok<\/td>R 5,848.83<\/td>R 5,688.00<\/td>\u20130.7%<\/td>2.80%<\/td><\/tr>
    Johannesburg<\/td>R 5,766.71<\/td>R 5,671.73<\/td>1.50%<\/td>1.70%<\/td><\/tr>
    Mthatha<\/td>R 5,513.57<\/td>R 5,450.09<\/td>\u20130.4%<\/td>1.20%<\/td><\/tr>
    Mthubatuba<\/td>R 5,431.81<\/td>R 5,370.76<\/td>3.80%<\/td>1.10%<\/td><\/tr>
    Durban<\/td>R 5,416.24<\/td>R 5,341.95<\/td>1%<\/td>1.40%<\/td><\/tr>
    Cape Town<\/td>R 5,370.30<\/td>R 5,372.28<\/td>0.10%<\/td>0%<\/td><\/tr>
    Pietermaritzburg<\/td>R 5,207.31<\/td>R 5,111.88<\/td>\u20132.3%<\/td>1.90%<\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/div>
    Ranked based on the highest price in October 2026.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    While inflation has been elevated in 2026, food inflation has remained subdued, but one city remains the most expensive for groceries.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":131,"featured_media":834669,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":true,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_sma_x_autopost_status":"posted","_sma_x_autopost_error":"","_sma_x_post_id":"2116066078862303368","_sma_facebook_post_id":"191437357620492_2254404995379899","_sma_instagram_post_id":"18095920742663548","_sma_x_attempts":1,"footnotes":""},"categories":[9876],"tags":[26990,26991,14664,22730],"class_list":["post-882094","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-lifestyle","tag-food-inflation-index","tag-pietermaritzburg","tag-pmbejd","tag-springbok"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/882094","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\/131"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=882094"}],"version-history":[{"count":28,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/882094\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":882145,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/882094\/revisions\/882145"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/834669"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=882094"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=882094"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=882094"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}