This slight uptick comes as part of Stats SA's year-end review, which also highlighted a significant decrease in the average inflation rate for 2024. The average inflation rate for the year stood at 4.4%, a notable drop from the 6% average recorded in 2023.

Inflation for food and non-alcoholic beverages edged up to 2.5% in December, compared to 2.3% in November. Despite this increase, the annual inflation rate for bread and cereal products remained steady at 3.7%.

Interestingly, prices for some items, including brown bread, experienced monthly declines, with brown bread prices dropping by 0.6% between November and December.

As SA CPI inflation nudges up slightly to 3% in December, the year-end average for 2024 shows a decline to 4.4% from 6% in 2023. Expectations are building for next month's national budget, with the Treasury potentially looking at a more stable inflation environment.

--ChannelAfrica--