South Africa’s annual inflation slowed slightly in November, official data showed Wednesday, as falling fuel and transport costs offered modest relief to consumers and strengthened expectations of further interest rate cuts.
Consumer inflation eased to 3.5 percent year on year in November from 3.6 percent in October, according to figures released by Statistics South Africa.
It was the first slowdown in headline inflation in three months and kept price growth comfortably within the central bank’s target band of 3 to 5 percent, and closer to its 3 percent midpoint.
On a monthly basis, prices fell by 0.1 percent, easing pressure on households ahead of the December holiday period.
Fuel prices dropped 2.2 percent between October and November, pushing annual fuel inflation down to just 0.1 percent. Transport inflation slowed to 0.7 percent year on year, from 1.5 percent in October.
Food inflation, however, edged up to 4.4 percent from 3.9 percent previously, driven by a sharp 12.2 percent rise in meat prices. This was partly offset by falling fruit and vegetable prices.
Housing and utilities inflation remained elevated at 4.5 percent, reflecting higher electricity, gas, water and municipal charges.
Core inflation which excludes volatile items such as food, fuel and electricity ticked up slightly to 3.2 percent from 3.1 percent, pointing to continued stickiness in services prices.
The softer headline reading is expected to support the case for further rate cuts by the South African Reserve Bank when it meets in January.
The data follows an inflation expectations survey by the Bureau for Economic Research, which showed respondents expect headline inflation to average 3.8 percent in 2026 and 3.7 percent in 2027 the lowest levels since the survey began in 2011.
