SA's most expensive city to buy groceries
This is the most expensive city to buy groceries as of June 2025.
According to the latest food price data from the Pietermaritzburg Economic Justice and Dignity (PMBEJD) group, Johannesburg remains the priciest city in South Africa when it comes to groceries.
As expected, Cape Town follows closely behind, with Durban holding the title for the most affordable when looking at South Africa's three major metros.
The PMBEJD's monthly report tracks the cost of a standard household food basket made up of 44 essential items.
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As of the end of June 2025, that basket sits at an average of R5,443.12.
Some items in the standard household food basket dropped in price, but 34 out of the 44 items tracked have gone up.
According to BusinessTech, that's R190.36 more than this time last year, marking a 3.6% increase.
It is also above the country's inflation rate of 2.8%.
In Johannesburg, the average food basket costs R5,648.85, which is R108.97 more than last year and R205.73 more than the national average.
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Although Durban is the cheapest of the three cities at R5,312.22, the city is still up R184.39, or 3.6% compared to June 2024.
Cape Town is seeing the sharpest yearly increase: the food basket there jumped R296.48 from last year, now sitting at R5,397.23, which is a 5.8% hike but still R251.62 cheaper than the City of Gold.
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