Stats SA has announced that the first annual consumer price inflation (CPI) print for the year is 3.5%, down from 3.6% in December.
Wednesday’s statistical release said the CPI print was driven by housing and utilities, which stood at 4.8% and contributed 1.2 percentage points, food and non-alcoholic beverages at 4.4%, contributing 0.8 of a percentage point, and insurance and financial services at 6.8%, contributing 0.7 of a percentage point.
“In January 2026, the annual inflation rate for goods was 2.7%, down from 3.0% in December 2025, and services was 4.2%, unchanged from December 2025.”
Patrick Kelly, chief director for price statistics at Stats SA, said within the food inflation categories, the annual rate for cereal products slowed down significantly in January, declining to 0.6% from 2.1% in December.
“White rice recorded a drop of 11%, representing an eleventh consecutive month of deflation. Maize meal inflation declined notably from 9.5% in December to 2.6% in January. Inflation for oils and fats softened to 4% from 4.6% in December.”
He said the milk, other dairy products and eggs category registered a rate of -0.5%, higher than December’s -1.1%.
“Fresh full cream milk at -1.4%, fresh low-fat milk at -1.6% and eggs at -7.6% contributed to the deflationary trend. Eggs are becoming more affordable. The average price for a tray of six eggs was R22.90 in January, down from R24.51 in 2025 and much lower than the peak of R25.85 recorded in December 2023. Rising meat prices, however, continue to place pressure on consumer wallets.”
He said the annual rate for meat accelerated further to 13.5% from December’s 12.6%, which was the highest print for that category since December 2017, when the print was 13.9%.
“Three beef products recorded the highest annual rates of all 391 products in the CPI basket. These were beef steak, rising by 31.2%, stewing beef, up to 30.3%, and beef mince at 28%.”
He said the index for fuel decreased by 3.7% in the 12 months to January, with petrol changing by -3.1% and diesel by -5.4%. The price of inland 95 octane petrol was R20.75 per litre in January, the lowest since the R20.14 levels of February 2022.
Business Times
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