Inflation for July continued on a downward trend reaching 4.6%, according to data from Statistics South Africa (StatsSA).

This is down from the annual inflation of 5.1% reported in June. Month-on-month inflation increased 0.3% in July.

The main contributors to annual consumer price inflation were food and non-alcoholic beverages which were down from 1.2 percentage points in June to 1.1 percentage points in July. The index increased 6.8% year-on-year.

Housing and utilities decreased from 1.4 percentage points to 1.1 percentage points in July. The index decreased 4.5% year-on-year.

Transport decreased from 0.5 of a percentage point in June to 0.1 of a percentage point in July. The index increased by 1.0% year-on-year.

Miscellaneous goods and services increased from 1.1 percentage points in June to 1.2 percentage points in July. The index increased by 7.6% year-on-year.

The contributions to the monthly consumer price inflation include food and non-alcoholic beverages by 0.1 of a percentage point in July. The index increased 0.3% month-on-month.

Housing and utilities contributed 0.3 of a percentage point in July. The index increased by 1.2% month-on-month.

Transport contributed -0.2 of a percentage point in July. The index decreased by 1.5% month-on-month.

Miscellaneous goods and services contributed 0.1 of a percentage point in July. The index increased by 0.5% month-on-month.

The Consumer Price Index (CPI) for goods increased 3.4% for the year, down from the 4.7% reported in June. The CPI for services increased 5.6% year-on-year, up from 5.5% in June.