Headline consumer inflation for all urban areas in South Africa slowed sharply to 4.5% on a year-on-year basis in December from 5.2% in November.
Stats SA said it was the largest drop in a single month since April 2017.
The Chief Director for price statistics Patrick Kelly said this month's drop is mainly the result of an 8% drop in the fule price, combined with moderate food inflation.
On average, prices decreased by 0.2% between November and December., the national statistics agency said on Wednesday.
The contribution of food and non-alcoholic beverages to the headline CPI number decreased from 0.6 percentage points in November to 0.5 percentages in December.
Transport decreased from 1.5 percentage points 0.9 percentage points, while recreation and culture increased from zero to 0.1 percentage points.
Stats SA said annual consumer inflation averaged 4.7% in 2018, down from 5.3% the previous year.
- African News Agency (ANA)
