The annual inflation rate for food and non-alcoholic beverages slowed further to 3.6% in March from 3.7% in February and 4.4% in January, with 4 of the 11 categories in deflationary territory on an annual basis.

• For more financial news, visit News24 Business.

The inflation rate inched up to 3.1% in March, from 3% in February, and food price inflation also cooled slightly to 3.6% (from 3.7%).

The March inflation rate was in line with economists’ expectation, but is expected to be the lowest point in months to come amid the fallout of the Iran.

Following the large April increases in fuel prices, of more than R3 for petrol and R7.50 for diesel, the expectation is for inflation to breach 3.5% in the current month. The April number will only be known in mid-May.

The March number released by Statistics SA on Wednesday reflects a slight easing of food price inflation, but increases in 6 of the 13 categories in the inflation basket, including restaurants and accommodation services, education, transport, housing and utilities, communication, and recreation.

Core inflation increased from 3% in February to 3.2%. Core inflation, which excludes fuel, food and electricity prices, is a barometer of second-round impacts of price increases which are not determined by seasons or world events, and is closely monitored by the SA Reserve Bank.

Education price hikes

March reflects the annual increase in education prices. Average tuition fees across all education levels increased by 5.4% in 2026, significantly higher than the 4.5% increase recorded in 2025, Stats SA points out.

Primary and secondary education fees increased by 6.2% (from 5% in 2025), and tertiary education increased by 4.2% (from 3.7%).

Private high schools recorded the sharpest increase, of 7.5%.

Transport costs still lower

The annual rate for the transport category increased from -2.1% in February to -1.6% in March. “The negative values represent deflation, meaning that transport prices were, in general, 1,6% cheaper in March 2026 compared with March 2025. The deflation is a result of fuel prices declining by 8,7% over the 12-month period, supported by a marginal increase of 0,4% in vehicle prices,” Stats SA points out.

Passenger transport fares recorded an annual rise of 0.7%. The monthly rate was 1.6%, driven by a 20% jump in long-distance bus fares and a 14.3% increase in airfares.

Stats SA also points out that March covers data collected before the sharp fuel price increases that were introduced on 1 April. “The impact of these higher prices on inflation will be included in the next CPI release that will be published on 20 May.”

Food prices cool

The annual rate for food and non-alcoholic beverages slowed further to 3.6% in March from 3.7% in February and 4.4% in January, with 4 of the 11 categories in deflationary territory on an annual basis. This includes fruit, vegetables, milk, dairy products and eggs, and cereal products, including bread.

The milk, other dairy products & eggs category recorded its 10th successive month of deflation at -0.5% in March. Fresh full-cream milk (currently in its 13th month of deflation at -0.4%), powdered milk (-5.5%), and eggs (-6.3%) were all cheaper than a year ago.

Prices for cereal products declined by 1% on average. White rice, porridge, maize meal, basmati rice, instant noodles, brown bread and bread flour are cheaper than in March 2025.

Meat prices dropped for the second month in a row, with stewing beef (-4.2%), steak (-2%), mince (-1.9%) and offal (-1.5%) all significantly cheaper month-on-month. Even biltong was slightly cheaper (-0.2%).

Year-on-year meat prices are still significantly higher, but the rate has eased to 11.6%, from 12.12% in February. “Most notably, steak retreated from 28.6% in February to 24.1% in March and stewing beef from 26.9% to 22.6%. Pork bucked the trend, increasing from 17.3% to 19.5%,” Statistics SA said.