South Africa’s inflation quickened more than expectations and edged closer to the upper end of the SARB’s target range of 3% to 6%, coming in 5.9% year-on-year 9 y-o-y) in October, from 5.4% y-o-y in September 2023. Food inflation reversed course and for the first time in six consecutive months accelerated slightly by 0.8 ppt to 8.8% y-o-y in October 2023.
There was a surprise surge in prices of fruits and vegetables: fruit inflation surged to a 34-month high of 8.5% y-o-y in October from 6.7% in the prior month, and further quickened by 2.7ppts to 5.8% month-on-month (m-o-m). Bananas posted the biggest annual increase of 42.1% y-o-y (+R6.28/kg) and were up 11% m/m (+R2.10/kg at R21.20/kg. They were followed by apples and pears with increases of 13.9% y-o-y (+R2.59/kg) and 11.5% y-o-y (+R2.34/kg) respectively.
The upward trend in both fruit and vegetable prices may continue in November, given that average prices for the first three weeks on major domestic fresh produce markets are already moderate to sharply higher relative to the 2022 levels mainly due to short term supply constraints.
[ R1 = €0.05 ]
Source: farmersreviewafrica.com