KUALA LUMPUR, Nov 6 — Malaysia’s services producer price index (SPPI) rose by 1.4 per cent to 115.4 points in the third quarter this year (3Q 2023) from 113.8 points in the same quarter of the preceding year, said the Department of Statistics Malaysia (DOSM).

The SPPI is designed to measure the average changes in the prices of services charged by the local services industry in Malaysia.

Chief statistician Datuk Seri Mohd Uzir Mahidin said all subsectors recorded an increase in this quarter except the index of information and communication, which remained unchanged.

"The accommodation and food and beverage service activities rose by 4.6 per cent, attributed to the increase in restaurants and mobile food service activities (5.2 per cent) and transportation recorded a marginal increase of 0.7 per cent due to the air transport (1.5 per cent).

"In the meantime, the other subsectors that recorded an increase were education (1.0 per cent), arts, entertainment and recreation (0.8 per cent) and professional (0.4 per cent),” he explained.

Meanwhile, the index of real estate activities and health both increased by 0.2 per cent, respectively.

On a quarter-on-quarter basis, the SPPI increased by 0.4 per cent as compared to 0.2 per cent recorded in the previous quarter.

"This was due to the increase particularly in arts, entertainment and recreation (3.0 per cent), accommodation and food and beverage service activities (0.9 per cent), education (0.3 per cent) and real estate activities (0.2 per cent) subsectors,” said Mohd Uzir.

Meanwhile, the index of transportation, professional, health, and information and communication remained unchanged, he said. — Bernama