New SA inflation basket: Frozen chips and coffee out, vaping and rosé wine in

Statistics South Africa (Stats SA) has shaken up the basket of goods and services used to measure consumer inflation, adding 71 new products and removing 53 others.

In total, there are now 391 products in the basket, down from 396.

The statistics agency, in its periodic review, lowered the weight of housing in the basket of goods used to calculate the consumer price index to 24.1% from 24.5%.

Household and food

Stats SA added rosé wine, snuff, ready-made meals and e-cigarette refills to its inflation basket and removed frozen potato chips, condensed milk and ground coffee/coffee beans to better reflect the nation’s fast-changing shopping habits.

Load shedding may have influenced the changes in the basket, leading to the inclusion of gas in cylinders and candles.

Municipal services are expanded to include refuse collection and sewage removal. Household items that were removed include the humble toaster/sandwich maker, household batteries and wax shoe polish.

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Technology

The rise in e-hailing services ensured its inclusion as a new item. School transport services are also added to the transport category. Driving licences and post office box rentals no longer make the cut.

New technology products include streaming services, modems and routers. USB and external hard drives, power banks and charging cables will also now be tracked by the consumer price index (CPI).

Landline telephone fees and satellite TV decoders are no longer part of the basket.

According to Stats SA, consumers are spending proportionally more on telecommunications services, which include cellphone data and calls, and internet services.

The weight for the information and communication category increases to 5.5% from 3.9%.

Insurance decreases to 8.4% from 9.9%. The decline is largely due to a softer weight for health insurance (medical aid).

Fuel and transport

Transport declined to 13.9% from 14.4%. The biggest reason for this decline is a reduction in the weight for fuel that shrank to 3.9% from 4.8%.

However, the weight for passenger transport services increases to 2.9% from 2.1%. Despite the overall decline, the transport category has the third-highest weight in the basket.

Toys

Lego also made into the basket making it the perfect opportunity to highlight the inclusion of toy building bricks in the recreation category.

However, several products were dropped. Teddy bears, for example, are sadly no longer with us. Digital cameras, musical instruments and magazines were also removed.

Housing and utilities

The highest weight category in the CPI is housing and utilities. This includes municipal services, levies for sectional title complexes, actual rent paid by tenants and owners’ equivalent rent. The new weight is 24.1%, slightly down from 24.5% in the 2019 weights.

The share for actual rentals increases to 4.4% from 3.5%, while owners’ equivalent rent drops to 11.2% from 13.0%. Electricity charges decrease to 3.4% from 3.6%.

The statistics agency last overhauled the inflation basket in 2022. The changes will be introduced in January’s inflation release on 19 February, with December 2024 as the new reference period.

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