Pretoria:South Africa's annual Consumer Price Index (CPI) increased to 4.5% in September 2026, Statistics South Africa (Stats SA) reported on Wednesday. This marks an increase from 4.4% in August 2026 and 4.3% in July 2026. The index rose by 0.4% between August and September, compared to a 0% change between July and August.
According to South African Government News Agency, consumer inflation has risen for a second consecutive month. The main contributors to the 4.5% annual inflation rate were transport, housing and utilities, and insurance and financial services. Transport saw a significant increase of 10.8%, contributing 1.5 percentage points to the overall rate. Housing and utilities rose by 5.2%, contributing 1.3 percentage points, while insurance and financial services increased by 5.4%, contributing 0.6 of a percentage point.
Nedbank, in its Weekly Monitor economic commentary, had forecasted a rise in headline consumer inflation from 4.4% in August to 4.8% in September. The anticipated increase in inflation was attributed primarily to higher transport costs, driven by a 5.3% month-on-month rise in petrol prices. This increase in petrol prices was due to a 14.1% jump in global oil prices and a 1.7% depreciation of the rand against the US dollar. Consequently, fuel inflation was expected to rise from 20% to around 27%.
The commentary also noted expectations of a continued moderate increase in food inflation. Additionally, the contribution from housing and utilities was expected to rise, influenced by factors such as actual rentals for housing, owners' equivalent rent, and wages for domestic workers and public transport fares. Core inflation was also predicted to firm, rising from 4.0% to 4.4%, as the indirect effects of higher fuel costs affected a wider range of goods and services, indicating mounting underlying inflationary pressures.
The release of this data precedes Finance Minister Enoch Godongwana's presentation of the Medium-Term Budget Policy Statement (MTBPS) scheduled for Wednesday afternoon.
