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Johannesburg - The Consumer Price Index (CPI) annual inflation rate for all urban areas dropped to 5.3% in November 2013, Statistics SA said on Wednesday.
"This rate was 0.2 of a percentage point lower than the corresponding annual rate of 5.5% in October 2013," it said in a statement.
"On average, prices increased by 0.1% between October 2013 and November 2013."
The food and non-alcoholic beverages index increased by 0.8% between October and November, while the annual rate decreased to 3.8% in November from 4.3% in October.
Price of petrol
The food and non-alcoholic beverages components of the index that increased included fruit, vegetables, meat, other food, hot beverages, sugar, sweets and desserts, oils and fats, fish, milk, eggs and cheese.
Bread and cereals and cold beverages decreased.
The transport index decreased by 0.6% between October and November, mainly due to a 28c/litre decrease in the price of petrol.
The annual rate decreased to 5.8% in November, from 6.2% in October.
The communication index decreased by 1% between October and November, from 2.2% to 1.1%.
Headline inflation
Provinces with an annual inflation rate lower than or equal to headline inflation were the Western Cape, Mpumalanga, Northern Cape, KwaZulu-Natal, Eastern Cape and North West.
The provinces with an annual inflation rate higher than headline inflation were Limpopo, the Free State and Gauteng.
Investec group economist Annabel Bishop said the CPI was below the consensus expectation of 5.5%.
"There was no evidence of any demand-led pressures, or second round effects from currency depreciation, with the 0.1% month-on-month increase driven by higher food and non-alcoholic beverage prices," she said in a statement.
"Until all administered prices are excluded from the 'core' CPI inflation rate... it will never provide a true measure of underlying, or core inflation pressures in the SA economy and as such will be misleading for monetary policy."
