South Africa: Inflation

The latest value from 2025 is 3.2 percent, a decline from 4.4 percent in 2024. In comparison, the world average is 4.6 percent, based on data from 163 countries. Historically, the average for South Africa from 1960 to 2025 is 7.6 percent. The minimum value, -0.7 percent, was reached in 2004 while the maximum of 18.7 percent was recorded in 1986. See the global rankings for that indicator or use the country comparator to compare trends over time.

Inflation in South Africa and other countries is usually calculated as the percent change in the Consumer Price Index (CPI) from one year to the next. The CPI represents the prices paid by the average urban consumer in each respective country. Inflation can also be calculated with other price indexes such as the Produce Price Index or the so-called GDP deflator.

Most countries try to keep inflation somewhere around 2-3 percent per year. That is too low to cause any problems for the businesses and households. At the same time, it is comfortably away from negative inflation, i.e. from deflation. Of course, this target is often missed.

Definition: Inflation as measured by the consumer price index reflects the annual percentage change in the cost to the average consumer of acquiring a basket of goods and services that may be fixed or changed at specified intervals, such as yearly.