WATCH: These are the staples driving up food inflation – Stats SA

As the country waits with bated breath to see if the South African Reserve Bank (Sarb) will increase the repo rate on Thursday, which is more than likely, Stats SA said prices for dairy products are among the food categories that continue to reach high levels of inflation.

Here’s what you need to know.

Food inflation in SA

Milk, eggs and cheese

The latest figures showed that milk, eggs and cheese registered an annual increase of 10,5%.

This is the highest rate since February 2017 which was at 10,7%.

In the latest report by Stats SA, the figures also showed that Consumer Price Inflation (CPI) currently sits at 7,6% in October, up from 7,5% in September.

Stats SA Chief Patrick Kelly said food and transport costs are among the main contributors to the rise in annual inflation.

“Bread and cereals, meat and dairy are the key product groups driving up food inflation which edged higher to 12% from 11.9% in September”.

“The bread and cereals category continues to see high levels of inflation with the annual rate increasing to 19.5% from 19.3% last month.”

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Petrol price

Kelly also said lower petrol prices saw the fuel index decline for a third consecutive month.

“This took the annual rate for fuel to 30,1% in October from 34,1% in September, decreasing further from the 56,2% peak recorded in July”.

“A litre of unleaded 95-octane petrol (inland) was R22,36 in October, lower than the record high of R26,74 in July.”

Health insurance

Kelly added that Health insurance premiums also increased by 4,8% in October 2022 compared with October 2021, higher than the annual reading of 3,5% recorded in September.

Other notable price changes in October

Stats SA said inflation for household detergents also continued to increase, with washing powder reaching an annual rate of 30.3% and dishwashing liquid 16.2%.

“Bath soap prices increased by 21.3% and toothpaste prices by 20.8% in the twelve months to October,” it said.

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