Malaysia CPI rises 1.6% y-o-y in January

KUALA LUMPUR (Feb 21): Malaysia’s consumer price index (CPI) rose 1.6% year-on-year in January 2020 to 122.4 from 120.5 previously.

In a statement today, the Department of Statistics Malaysia said the increase in the overall index was driven by the index of transport (3.9%), miscellaneous goods and services (2.5%), housing, water, electricity, gas and other fuels (1.7%), education (1.7%) and communication (1.5%).

Chief Statistician Malaysia Datuk Seri Dr Mohd Uzir Mahidin said out of 552 items covered in CPI, 353 items showed an increase in January 2020 as against January 2019.

Meanwhile, 146 items declined while 53 items were unchanged.

He said the higher average price of RON95 in January 2020 at RM2.08 per litre as compared to RM1.98 per litre in January 2019 had contributed to the increase of the transport and overall index.

In addition, the average price of RON97 increased to RM2.58 per litre as compared to RM2.28 per litre, while diesel increased to RM2.18 per litre from RM2.12 per litre in corresponding month of the preceding year.

On a monthly basis, the CPI rose 0.1% in January, driven mainly by the index of education (0.4%), miscellaneous goods and services (0.4%), health (0.2%) and recreation services and culture (0.2%).

Selangor and Wilayah Persekutuan Putrajaya (2.1%), Wilayah Persekutuan Kuala Lumpur (1.8%) and Johor (1.8%) surpassed the national CPI rate of 1.6% in January 2020 as compared to the same month in the preceding year.

All states except Kelantan registered an increase in the index of food and non-alcoholic beverages.

The highest increase was recorded by Selangor and Wilayah Persekutuan Putrajaya (1.4%) followed by Johor (1.3%), Pulau Pinang (1.1%), Wilayah Persekutuan Kuala Lumpur (1.0%) and Perak (1.0%), surpassing the national index of 0.9% for food and non-alcoholic beverages in January 2020.

Source: TheEdgeMarkets