South Africa's producer price inflation surged in April, reaching a six-month high, according to data released by Statistics South Africa on Thursday.
The producer price index (PPI) registered a year-on-year increase of 5.1 percent in April, up from a 4.6 percent rise in March. This marks the highest inflation rate since October of the previous year, when prices grew by 5.8 percent.
The acceleration in annual inflation for April can be attributed primarily to increased prices in sectors such as coke, petroleum, chemicals, rubber and plastic products, food products, beverages and tobacco products, as well as metals, machinery, equipment, and computing equipment.
Specifically, the PPI for electricity and water surged 14.4 percent compared to the previous year, while the index for agriculture, forestry, and fishing climbed 9.7 percent. Conversely, mining prices saw a decline of 5.5 percent.
On a month-to-month basis, producer prices edged up by 0.5 percent at the beginning of the second quarter.
