Year-on-year consumer price inflation less mortgage costs (CPIX) remained stable at five percent last month, Statistics SA reported on Wednesday.

November's year-on-year figure also came in at five percent.

The broader consumer price index for metropolitan areas showed that prices rose by an average of 5.8 percent between December 2005 and December 2006.

The CPIX index number for December 2005 was 136.7. A year later it was 143.5, giving the five percent increase.

The broader CPI index number was 129.5 in December 2005, and rose to 137 in December 2006, for a 5.8 percent increase.

Both indices stood at 100 points in the year 200.

Stats SA said the annual five percent increase in CPIX was mainly due to relatively large annual contributions in the price indices for food, which gained two percentage points, and housing excluding mortgage costs, climbing 0.6 of a percentage point.

Sapa

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