Cost of Household Food Basket in different areas
Description: The monthly cost of a basket of food that a low-income South African household of seven people typically tries to buy each month. The basket was designed by the Pietermaritzburg Economic Justice & Dignity Group (PMBEJD) with women living on low incomes, based on the foods and quantities they say they aim to secure. It contains 44 food items. It reflects what households actually buy under tight budgets, not an ideal diet, and is not nutritionally complete. Women shoppers collect the prices from the supermarkets and butcheries that serve low-income areas, and it reflects their choices in switching to cheaper brands or stores in order to find specials, meaning the data represents what households really pay each month. This data is published monthly as part of the Household Affordability Index.
Ask about this data
Ask a question, or ask for a chart — “compare the provinces since 2015”.
Answers are written by AI from this dataset only and can be wrong — check them against the chart and the data below. A few questions are free. Questions are saved without personal details.
The data
73 rows, 9 columns.
- date Date
- Month and year of the data. The last day of each month is provided to keep dates in YYYY-MM-DD format. 2020-09-30 – 2026-09-30
- all_areas_average Number
- Weighted average price of the household food basket across all areas. 3783.16 – 5530.52
- johannesburg Number
- Price of the household food basket in Johannesburg (Soweto, Alexandra, Tembisa, Hillbrow) 3808.26 – 5763.7
- durban Number
- Price of the household food basket in Durban (incl. KwaMashu, Umlazi, Isipingo, Durban CBD) 3731.4 – 5451.07
- cape_town Number
- Price of the household food basket in Cape Town (Gugulethu, Philippi, Khayelitsha, Langa, Delft, Dunoon) 3834.1 – 5429.18
- springbok Number
- Price of the household food basket in Springbok (Northern Cape) 3989.84 – 6109.75
- pietermaritzburg Number
- Price of the household food basket throughout Pietermaritzburg 3601.38 – 5331.08
- mtubatuba Number
- Price of the household food basket in Mtubatuba (northern KwaZulu-Natal) 5143.81 – 5649.23
- mthatha Number
- Price of the household food basket in Mthatha (Eastern Cape) 5477.87 – 5829.11
Latest rows
| date | all_areas_average | johannesburg | durban | cape_town | springbok | pietermaritzburg | mtubatuba | mthatha |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2026-09-30 | 5488.06 | 5679.01 | 5364.64 | 5364.98 | 5891.18 | 5331.08 | 5232.34 | 5536.16 |
| 2026-08-31 | 5479.8 | 5655.03 | 5360.38 | 5394.29 | 5934.96 | 5261.04 | 5309.19 | 5477.87 |
| 2026-07-31 | 5530.52 | 5763.7 | 5309.02 | 5367.3 | 6109.75 | 5173.57 | 5649.23 | 5669.87 |
| 2026-06-30 | 5502.42 | 5713.63 | 5349.33 | 5298.04 | 5945.05 | 5176.12 | 5519.75 | 5744.03 |
| 2026-05-31 | 5479.26 | 5723.62 | 5284.48 | 5222.75 | 5811.08 | 5298.64 | 5494.57 | 5829.11 |
| 2026-04-30 | 5452.09 | 5664.94 | 5427.24 | 5167.96 | 5863.27 | 5251.02 | 5420.9 | |
| 2026-03-31 | 5328.53 | 5585.67 | 5267.26 | 5156.88 | 5690.83 | 5002.77 | 5312.73 | |
| 2026-02-28 | 5383.81 | 5614.44 | 5289.44 | 5232.82 | 5719.2 | 5207.5 | 5403.84 | |
| 2026-01-31 | 5401.44 | 5515.69 | 5295.36 | 5389.36 | 5467.91 | 5221.36 | 5502.41 | |
| 2025-12-31 | 5333.45 | 5538.42 | 5306.47 | 5185.27 | 5649.2 | 5029.73 | 5296.45 | |
| 2025-11-30 | 5413.53 | 5604.49 | 5305.74 | 5349.17 | 5811.82 | 5074.29 | 5393.33 | |
| 2025-10-31 | 5440.6 | 5671.73 | 5341.95 | 5372.28 | 5688 | 5111.88 | 5370.76 |
Downloads of this dataset are for paid members. See plans or sign in