South Africa Producer Inflation Cools Down for 2nd Month

Producer price inflation in South Africa fell for the second month to 5.7% in July 2026 from July's 7.5% and below the expected 6.1%. The slowdown mainly reflected softer increases in prices of coal and petroleum products (24.4% vs 38.8% in June), particularly fuel costs such as diesel (29.4% vs 53.8%) and petrol (21.8% vs 36.5%), amid a decline in global crude oil prices. Price growth also moderated across other categories, including non-metallic mineral products, which rose 7.5% year-on-year, down from 11.5% in June; paper and printed products, at 4.2% versus 8.5%; and textiles, clothing and footwear, at 6.6% versus 6.9%. Moreover, transport equipment costs fell 1.4%, compared with a 0.6% increase in June. On a monthly basis, the PPI decreased by 1%, after falling by 0.1% in the previous month.

Producer price inflation in South Africa decelerated to 7.5% in June 2026, easing from an over three-year high of 7.8% in the previous month. The slowdown was driven largely by decreases recorded in food, beverages, and tobacco (1.3% vs 2.1% in May), paper and printed products (8.5% vs 8.7%), electrical machinery, and communications and metering equipment (6.2% vs 6.9%), transport equipment (0.6% vs 0.7%), and furniture (4.6% vs 8.2%). On the other hand, costs increased for textiles, clothing, and footwear (6.9% vs 5.2%), non-metallic mineral products (11.5% vs 10.5%), and metals, machinery, equipment, and computing equipment (3.2% vs 2.9%), while inflation remained steady for coke, petroleum, chemical, rubber, and plastic products (at 22.0%). On a monthly basis, producer costs fell by 0.1%, following a 2.6% growth in the preceding period.

Producer price inflation in South Africa quickened for the third month to 7.8% in May 2026, from April's 4.8% and marking the steepest since April 2023. The increase was mainly driven by coke, petroleum, chemical, rubber and plastic products, which surged 22.1% on higher fuel prices, including diesel (+66.7%) and petrol (+28.1%). Other key contributors included paper and printed products (+8.7%); food, beverages and tobacco (+2.1%); and metals, machinery and equipment (+2.9%). On a monthly basis, the CPI advanced by 2.6%, following a 3% surge in the previous month.