Fuel price shock pushes South Africa’s inflation to 22-month high of 4.5%

South Africa’s annual consumer inflation accelerated sharply to 4.5% in May, its highest level in 22 months, as surging fuel prices filtered through the economy and pushed headline inflation beyond the South African Reserve Bank’s preferred target range. Data released by Statistics South Africa today showed that consumer price inflation climbed from 4.0% in April to 4.5% in May, marking the highest annual inflation rate since July 2024, when inflation stood at 4.6%. Patrick Kelly, Chief Director for price statistics at StatsSA