South Africa: Inflation soars to over five-year high in May
Consumer prices rose 0.68% over the previous month in May, picking up from April’s 0.59% rise. The acceleration was driven by brisker price increases for housing and utilities and food and non-alcoholic beverages.
Inflation increased to 6.5% in May from April’s 5.9%. May’s figure represented the highest inflation rate since January 2017. Accordingly, the trend pointed up slightly, with annual average inflation coming in at 5.5% in May (April: 5.4%). Finally, core inflation rose to 4.1% in May, from the previous month’s 3.9%.