Inflation: Milk, eggs and cheese prices sky rocket to its highest in 14 years

The price of milk, eggs and cheese products have experienced the highest spike in prices over the past 14 years at a whopping 14,5%.

The average price of a 2 litre carton of fresh full-cream milk increased from R30,14 to R35,88, while the average price of a kilogramme of cheddar cheese increased from R118,24 to R135,11.

The price of half a dozen eggs rose from R20,38 to R21,59 over the past 12 months to April.

There may, however, be some relief for consumers with inflation decreasing slightly in April to 6.8% after a shocking increase to 7,1% in March, the lowest reading since May 2022, when the rate was 6,5%.

The inflation rate for the past year to March was the highest in 14 years, with food prices still climbing while consumers are struggling.

Food and non-alcoholic beverages

According to Statistics South Africa’s latest release of the consumer price index, the main contributors to the 6,8% annual inflation rate were food and non-alcoholic beverages, housing and utilities, transport and miscellaneous goods and services.

Food prices were again the main culprit although annual inflation for food and non-alcoholic beverages eased to 13,9% in April from 14,0% in March and contributed 2,4 percentage points to the total CPI annual rate of 6,8%.

Bread and cereal prices increased by 20,8% in the 12 months to April, slightly higher than March’s reading of 20,3%, but lower than the recent peak of 21,8% recorded in January.

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Veggies and coffee

Vegetables were also on average 23,1% more expensive in April 2023 compared to April 2022, the highest annual rate since November 2007. Products pushing up the rate include onions (up 52,8%), carrots (up 29,8%), peppers (up 25,0%) and potatoes (up 24,4%).

Even coffee lovers were not exempt from increasing prices, with annual inflation for non-alcoholic beverages reaching 10,4% in April, the highest rate since January 2010.

Other products registering higher than average price changes were ground coffee or beans (up 17,8%), instant coffee (up 14,8%), dairy blends (up 19,2%) and fruit juices (up 16,5%).

Meat inflation slows down

At least meat and oils and fats bucked the trend with meat inflation slowing for the second consecutive month, dropping to 9,5% from 10,6% in March. Inflation for oils and fats decreased for an eighth consecutive month, tumbling from 16,0% in March to 9,9% in April.

The last time this rate was in single-digit territory was November 2020.

Other notable price shifts in April were for transport, vehicles, traditional reading material and miscellaneous goods and services.

Transport and vehicles

Transport decreased for the ninth successive month, easing to 7,6%, mainly due to the annual rate for fuel easing to 5,0%, the lowest reading since March 2021 (2,4%). Transport contributed 1,1 percentage points.

Buying vehicles as a category carries a weight of 5,9% in the CPI basket and the annual rate increased to 7,2% in April from 7,0% in March, while used vehicles were 12,9% more expensive than a year ago and slower inflation for new vehicles saw prices increasing by 6,7%.

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Readers were also feeling the pinch over the past year, as sharp monthly price increases were recorded for traditional reading material, such as newspapers (up 7,5%) and magazines (up 5,6%), taking the annual rate for the books, newspapers and stationery category from 10,2% in March to 11,5% in April.

The miscellaneous goods and services price index increased by 1,3% between March and April and contributed 0,9 of a percentage point, with personal care prices climbing by 1,2% from March 2023. Some health insurance companies increased prices in April, lifting the health insurance index by a monthly 2,4%.

Housing and utilities increased by 4,1% year-on-year and contributed 1,0 percentage point, while the annual inflation rate for goods was 9,0%, down from 9,4% in March. The rate for services was 4,7%, up from 4,5% in March.