Pietermaritzburg Economic Justice and Dignity Group (PMBEJD) recently released the latest food price data that reveals how food prices have dropped over the last month in Johannesburg, while Durban has the most costly food across three major metros.
According to Business Tech, the PMBEJD’s basket consists of 44 core food items that have been frequently purchased by lower-income households.
PMBEJD reported that the monthly food basket for November 2021 totalled R4 272.44 and increased by R3.50 by December 2021 with a total price of R4 275.94. The same basket in December 2020 was R4 002.42 meaning that households are now paying R273.52 more (6.8%) than last year.
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South Africa’s latest consumer price index for October 2021 shows headline inflation to be 5% and for the lowest spending quintiles one to three, it is 6.5%, 6% and 5.2%, while the food CPI inflation is 6.7%. The producer price index for October 2021 revealed that the agricultural inflation was 8.7%, reports UK Times News.
The PMBEJD also looks at the fluctuations in five different cities: three major metros, Joburg, Durban and Cape Town and two smaller regions – Springbok in the Northern Cape and Pietermaritzburg.
The difference in the total cost of the household food basket in Joburg, Durban and Cape Town remain consistent at ±R150.
Major metros
Across the major metros, Cape Town has seen a huge increase in basket prices year on year, but remains the major metro with the lowest overall basket price at R4 219.18
Durban took the cake with its most expensive basket across the three major metros as per the PMBEJD with an increase of 6.8% year on year to R4 319.75. Meanwhile, Joburg saw the smallest year on year increase at 5.7% and is now the second most expensive basket across the three major metros at R4 302.27.
Outliers
Springbok (Northern Cape) saw smaller increases – around 5.3% – over the last year. Food prices are usually higher, so increases are off high base. Pietermaritzburg saw the largest year-on-year jump overall (+11.3%), but it is the cheapest basket across all five cities, this is off low base.
Food price changes monthly:
Joburg: -0.07%
Durban: +0.3%
Cape Town: +0.5%
Springbok: +1.3%
Pietermaritzburg: 0.0%
Food price changes yearly:
Joburg: +5.7%
Durban: +6.8%
Cape Town: +8.0%
Springbok: +5.3%
Pietermaritzburg: +11.3%
Across the different food categories, each region has the cheapest and most expensive food offering.
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Picture: Unsplash