CPI on the rise
The headline Consumer Price Inflation (CPI) rate in December 2016 peaked at 6,8 percent.
This is an increase of 0,2 percent than the corresponding annual rate of 6,6 percent in November 2016.
Stats SA says prices increased by 0,4 percent between November 2016 and December 2016 on average.
The average annual CPI was 6,4 percent in 2016. This was 1,8 percentage points higher than the corresponding average of 4,6 percent in 2015.
Efficient Group economist Francois Stofberg says food inflation contributed greatly to the increase in December.
"It means the consumer is 6,4 percent worse off than he was in 2015 if he did not see a relative and adjusted salary increase of more or less inflation. It also means his buying power of his rand is now a bit lower; he can 6,4 percent less goods with the same R100 than he did in 2015," says Stofberg.