Prices in South Africa’s urban areas were 4.5% higher in September 2026 than a year earlier, Statistics South Africa (Stats SA) said, against 4.4% in August. On the month they rose 0.4%.
Those two numbers come from one index. Stats SA’s release for September 2026, published on 21 October, shows how the index is built and what moves it.
What the index measures
The consumer price index (CPI) tracks the prices of a list of goods and services. Each item counts according to its weight in the release, and all weights add up to 100.
In the September 2026 release, housing and utilities carry the largest weight at 24.10. Food and non-alcoholic beverages follow at 18.23, then transport at 13.89 and insurance and financial services at 10.41. Fuel alone weighs 3.80 and electricity, gas and other fuels 4.10.
How the headline rate is worked out
The index is set at 100 for December 2024. September 2025 stood at 103.4 and September 2026 at 108.1. Dividing the second by the first gives 1.0455, an increase of 4.5%, which is the annual inflation rate. Put simply, it compares a month with the same month a year before.
Source: Statistics South Africa, Consumer Price Index P0141, September 2026, Table B2 (headline year-on-year rates). Chart: Rand Desk
The monthly change works the same way against the previous month: 108.1 against 107.7 in August is 0.4%. The average annual rate compares the average index of one year with the previous year’s. For 2025 that was 3.2%, according to Stats SA’s table.
A basket costing R1,000 when the index stood at 103.4 would cost R1,045 at 108.1, by our calculation.
Who and where
The headline figure covers all urban areas. Stats SA also publishes a rural index, which was up 3.1% on the year, and a total-country index, up 4.4%. Provincial rates in September ranged from 3.0% in Limpopo to 5.5% in the Western Cape.
Households are not all alike. Stats SA also publishes a CPI for each tenth of the expenditure range, from decile 1 (up to R35,864) to decile 10 (R307,886 and more). In September 2026 the rates rose from 3.3% in the first decile to 4.8% in the tenth.
Not every price is checked monthly
Stats SA says not all items are priced every month, and its survey schedule lists the exceptions. In March, June, September and December it prices rentals, what homeowners would pay to rent their own homes, domestic services, public transport fares and car insurance. Municipal charges for water, rates and electricity are surveyed in July, and school and university tuition fees in March.
Where it learns of a big price change between those months, Stats SA adds an extra survey for the item. The response rate from outlets in September 2026 was 98.9%.
Other measures and administered prices
Stats SA also publishes several other versions of CPI. Excluding food, non-alcoholic beverages, fuel and energy, annual inflation was 4.0% in September 2026. The annual trimmed mean was 3.2%.
Administered prices, which the government sets or strongly influences, have a weight of 12.90 and rose 13.0% on the year. The group covers water, electricity, petrol, diesel, toll fees and public education, among others. Excluding administered prices, inflation was 3.3%.
What drove September
Transport rose 10.8% on the year and added 1.5 percentage points to the 4.5%. Housing and utilities rose 5.2% and added 1.3 points, and insurance and financial services rose 5.4% and added 0.6. Fuel was up 27.9% on September 2025 and rose 6.2% on the month. See how South Africa’s fuel price is set.
Food and non-alcoholic beverages rose 1.2% on the year and added 0.2 points. How the Reserve Bank responds to inflation is explained in how the repo rate works.
Stats SA will publish October 2026 inflation on 18 November 2026.
