South Africa’s annual inflation rate held steady at 2.8% in May 2025, matching April’s five-year low. Faster price increases for food and non-alcoholic beverages (4.8% vs. 4.0% in April), housing and utilities (4.5% vs. 4.4%), and clothing and footwear (1.3% vs. 1.2%) were offset by slower inflation in alcoholic beverages and tobacco (4.3% vs. 4.7%), restaurants and accommodation services (1.8% vs. 3.0%), and personal care and miscellaneous services (1.7% vs. 1.6%). In contrast, transport prices declined sharply (-4.8% vs -3.9%).
On a monthly basis, the CPI increased 0.2%, slightly below the 0.3% rise recorded in April, marking the lowest monthly increase in five months. Meanwhile, the annual core inflation rate held steady at 3.0% in May, remaining its lowest reading since July 2021.
