JOHANNESBURG, March 20 (Xinhua) -- South Africa's consumer inflation increased in February, with the Consumer Price Index (CPI) rising to 5.6 percent from 5.3 percent in January, data released by the Statistics South Africa (Stats SA) showed Wednesday.
Factors contributing to the rise in the inflation rate in February included housing and utilities, miscellaneous goods and services, food and non-alcoholic beverages, as well as transport, according to Patrick Kelly, chief director for price statistics at Stats SA.
The avian flu outbreak that began in 2023 continued to affect the prices of milk, eggs and cheese category, with eggs being 30.7 percent more expensive than a year ago, the data showed.
Annual rice inflation increased further to 25 percent in February from 23.8 percent in January.
In February, the CPI for the transport category registered an annual increase of 5.4 percent, driven higher mainly by increases in vehicle and fuel prices, according to the data. ■