Trends in the Cost of Living in South Africa between 2011 and 2023
National Planning Commission and UNICEF South Africa
Highlights
The National Development Plan (NDP, 2012) recognises the need to address poverty and inequality by reducing the cost of living, emphasising the importance of affordable essential goods and services, and access to quality education and healthcare. Ongoing challenges, including the effects of the COVID-19 lockdowns, supply chain disruptions, fuel price increases, and rising interest rates, have intensified concerns about the cost of living. Government’s ability to mitigate the impact of these pressures is constrained by ongoing fiscal limitations, limiting its capacity to provide adequate support to households struggling with rising costs – which in turn impacts on the health, education and wellbeing of vulnerable children.
Against this backdrop, the latest National Planning Commission and UNICEF South Africa’s research report titled “Trends in the Cost of Living in South Africa between 2011 and 2023” investigates the impact of the cost of basic goods and services on the cost of living for poor and working poor households between 2011 and 2023. The research is informed by three groups of questions, focusing on the provision of basic services, incomes, and the cost of living.
