The inflation rate fell to 4.3% | What it means for consumers

Stats SA said the slowdown was mainly driven by lower food inflation, smaller municipal tariff increases and falling fuel prices.

South Africa’s annual inflation rate fell sharply to 4.3% in July, down from 5.0% in June.

According to Statistics South Africa (Stats SA), this was the first decline in headline inflation in five months.

The slowdown was mainly driven by lower food inflation, smaller municipal tariff increases and falling fuel prices.

Inflation for food and non-alcoholic beverages fell to 0.9% in July, its lowest level in more than 16 years.

Stats SA said the last time the rate was this low was in June 2010, when it was 0.7%. That was also the month South Africa hosted the FIFA World Cup.

The slowdown was mainly driven by lower prices for cereal products and meat.

Cereal product prices fell by 2.0% year-on-year in July, compared with a 1.5% decline in June.

Some individual products also became cheaper. Maize meal prices fell by 3.1%, while macaroni fell by 0.7% and white bread by 0.6%.

Some unprocessed beef products recorded lower prices compared with a year earlier. These included:

These included corned meat (+11.8%), meat patties (+7.8%), Russians (+7.7%) and sausages (+6.2%).

While overall food inflation slowed, some food categories recorded higher annual inflation in July.

Inflation for oils and fats increased to 2.8% in July, from 2.3% in June.

Electricity tariffs increased by 8.1%, compared with a 10.4% increase in 2025.