Headline inflation increased significantly from 4.2 percent in March to 10.3 percent in April 2026, breaching the medium-term objective range of 3 – 6 percent, and was notably higher than the 2.3 percent recorded in April 2025. The significant increase in inflation between March and April 2026 was mainly due to the upward adjustments in domestic fuel prices on 28 March 2026, as well as the increase in public transport fares and medical aid premiums on 1 April 2026, which collectively added 6.26 percentage points directly to inflation. The 16 percent trimmed mean inflation also increased from 4.8 percent to 8.8 percent, while inflation excluding administered prices increased from 5.3 percent to 5.6 percent, between March and April 2026.
Inflation for domestic tradeables increased from 6.4 percent to 7.4 percent between March and April 2026. Similarly, inflation for imported tradeables increased significantly from 6.6 percent to 17.8 percent over the same period, mainly due to the upward adjustment in domestic fuel prices. Overall, all tradeables inflation increased from 6.5 percent to 15 percent between March and April 2026. Meanwhile, inflation for non-tradeables increased from 0.6 percent to 3.1 percent in the same period, mainly due to the increase in public transport fares and medical aid premiums.