Inflation (CPI) during each president's tenure

Every president since 1991, ranked by how the inflation (CPI) changed from their first day in office. Politare shows what happened during a tenure; it does not claim the office-holder caused it.

Sort by

Tenures

Period

Party

At least

Results

Order

#	President	In office	Total	Per year
1	Thabo Mbeki	14 Jun 1999 – 25 Sep 2008	+4.1 pp May 1999 → Aug 2008	+0.4 pp/yr
2	Cyril Ramaphosa	15 Feb 2018 – now	+0.2 pp Jan 2018 → Sep 2026	0.0 pp/yr
3	Nelson Mandela	10 May 1994 – 14 Jun 1999	+0.1 pp Apr 1994 → May 1999	0.0 pp/yr
4	Jacob Zuma	9 May 2009 – 15 Feb 2018	−4.6 pp Apr 2009 → Jan 2018	−0.5 pp/yr

Sorted by total, highest first. Every row is indexed to the last month complete before the first day in office ("from" marks a start that had to move because that period had no data, or because the period cut it); Levels are per cent changes, rates are differences in pp; "per year" compounds levels and divides rates. Tenures with under 12 months, or under three observations, are left out. % change on a year earlier · Statistics South Africa consumer price index via the IMF (CPI, headline, all urban areas), change on the same month a year earlier · South Africa data · as of Oct 2026.