According to data released by Statistics South Africa, on Thursday the country’s producer inflation rose to 2.1% year-on-year in August 2025, which is an increase from the 1.5% recorded in July.
Marking the third consecutive month of rising producer inflation. On a month-on-month basis, the PPI increased by 0.3% in August. The primary driver of this increase was the “food, beverages & tobacco” category, which saw its annual inflation rate rise to 4.3%. Prices for meat and fish were particularly high, with an annual increase of 11%.
The report showed that the Agriculture, Forestry, and Fishing sector saw a significant drop in its annual PPI, falling to a five-month low of 3.0% in August from 6.5% in July. This decline was primarily driven by lower prices for crops and horticulture (-5.2%), with cereals and other crops (-7.5%) and milk and eggs (-4%) showing notable decreases.
The mining sector was also lower, decreasing from a 7.5% annual increase in July to 2.8% in August. This was a result of a 2.0% month-on-month decrease, despite some price increases in subcategories like gold and other metal ores
However, increase in the PPI for final manufactured goods to 2.1% suggests that producers are facing higher costs. These costs, if sustained, are often passed on to consumers, which could put upward pressure on the Consumer Price Index (CPI)in the coming months.
