JOHANNESBURG - South ​Africa's ⁠headline consumer inflation accelerated to 4.0% ‌year on year in April, sharply higher ​than the previous month's 3.1% reading, ​data from the ​statistics agency showed on Wednesday.

Economists polled by Reuters had ⁠expected annual inflation would accelerate to 3.9%, as the impact of the U.S.-Israel war against Iran ​fed ‌through into prices.

Africa's ⁠largest ⁠economy is highly exposed to rising global energy ​costs as ‌it imports most ⁠of its fuel.

South Africa's central bank targets inflation of 3%, with a 1 percentage point tolerance band either side.

Its next interest rate-setting meeting is on May 28, and many economists ‌expect a hike after two consecutive "hold" decisions ⁠in January and March.

In ​month-on-month terms inflation was at 1.1% in April, compared with ​0.6% ‌in March.