KUALA LUMPUR, Dec 22 — Malaysia's Consumer Price Index (CPI) in November 2021 increased 3.3 per cent year-on-year (yoy) to 124.0, said the Department of Statistics Malaysia (DoSM).

Chief statistician Datuk Seri Dr Mohd Uzir Mahidin said the 3.3 per cent rise was influenced by various groups, especially food and non-alcoholic beverages, transport and housing, water, electricity, gas and other fuels. 

"The significant increase was attributed to higher prices of raw materials for cooking. 

"The price of chicken — the largest component of meat and the main source of protein for Malaysians, increased by 16.7 per cent as a result of global higher prices of feed for animals," he said in a statement on the CPI November 2021 report today. 

Mohd Uzir said fish prices also recorded an increase, with the average price of Indian Mackerel rising to RM15.57 from RM14.68 a year ago. 

Milk, cheese and eggs were up by 4.2 per cent yoy, while the price of vegetables rose by 3.4 per cent yoy. 

In addition, he said fuel prices remained high (27.6 per cent) and electricity costs increased by 34.6 per cent after the electricity discount was discontinued in September 2021.

"The discontinuation of electricity discount under the Perlindungan Rakyat dan Pemulihan Ekonomi (PEMULIH) package in September had an impact on the below RM3,000 income group.

"Although there was a significant increase in transport, food and electricity, the diversification of households’ spending in Malaysia and the various changes in the price of certain goods have indirectly helped ease the current inflation rate,” he said.

Mohd Uzir said during the month, communication services, education fees and toll charges remained unchanged.

"Meanwhile, those that registered a decline in prices were clothing and footwear (-0.4 per cent) and vitamins (-1.7 per cent)," he said. 

The food and non-alcoholic beverages group increased 2.9 per cent, following the rise in meat (9.2 per cent), oils and fats (6.4 per cent), milk, cheese and eggs (4.4 per cent) and fish and seafood (3.6 per cent). 

"Chicken, which was consumed by 86.8 per cent of B40 household, increased 15.1 per cent in November 2021,” he said. 

Meanwhile, the transport index was 3.5 percentage points higher than the same group of headline inflation and recorded a 16.2 per cent yoy rise in November 2021.

Housing, water, electricity, gas and other fuels also went up 2.8 per cent (November 2020: -3.2 per cent). 

As for CPI by states, he noted that all states recorded an increase in November 2021, with nine states surpassing the national CPI rate of 3.3 per cent — the highest being Terengganu at 4.3 per cent.

Meanwhile, states with the lowest increase in CPI were Sarawak (2.7 per cent), Sabah and Labuan (2.4 per cent) and Kuala Lumpur (2.4 per cent).

Mohd Uzir also said core inflation registered an increase of 0.9 per cent yoy in November 2021, contributed by the rise in the furnishings, household equipment and routine household maintenance group (2.6 per cent).

He emphasised that the rising inflation was inevitable due to the rising global prices of fuel, food and construction-related material such as steel. 

"However, it may be stabilised by the implementation of the Keluarga Malaysia Maximum Price Scheme  for 12 food items from Dec 7-31, 2021," he added. — Bernama