Malaysia’s inflation rate slows to 1.9pc in August, CPI report highlights key price changes, says Stats Dept

\KUALA LUMPUR, Sept 23 — Malaysia’s inflation rate for August 2024 has eased to 1.9 per cent, with the Consumer Price Index (CPI) reaching 133.2, compared to 130.7 in the same month of the previous year, according to the Department of Statistics Malaysia (DoSM).

In its CPI report for August 2024, DoSM attributed the inflation to increases in several key categories: restaurant and accommodation services (3.2 per cent), personal care social protection, and miscellaneous goods and services (3.2 per cent), housing, water, electricity, gas and other fuels (3.1 per cent), and recreation, sports and culture (2.0 per cent).

Conversely, clothing and footwear recorded a decline of 0.2 per cent in August 2024.

DoSM reported that the food and beverages group, which contributes 29.8 per cent of the total CPI weight, increased by 1.6 per cent in August 2024, the same rate as in July 2024.

Within this group, the main subgroup of food at home rose by 0.3 per cent, primarily due to higher expenditure on vegetables, which saw an increase of 2.2 per cent (July 2024: 2.9 per cent).

In contrast, inflation for the meat expenditure class declined to negative 0.7 per cent in August 2024 (July 2024: -1.1 per cent), with chicken, accounting for 32.6 per cent of this category, registering a decrease of 2.2 per cent (July 2024: -2.7 per cent).

Chief statistician Datuk Seri Dr Mohd Uzir Mahidin said most states recorded inflation rates below the national average of 1.9 per cent, except for Pulau Pinang (3.3 per cent), Pahang (2.8 per cent), Sarawak (2.5 per cent) and Selangor (2.3 per cent).

“All states registered an increase in the inflation of food and beverages, with the highest rate recorded in Selangor at 2.8 per cent, followed by Pulau Pinang (2.7 per cent), Sarawak (2.0 per cent), Pahang (1.9 per cent), Wilayah Persekutuan Putrajaya (1.8 per cent), and Terengganu (1.6 per cent),” he said.

DoSM also highlighted that Malaysia’s inflation was lower than that of Vietnam (3.5 per cent), the Philippines (3.3 per cent), Indonesia (2.1 per cent), and the Republic of Korea (2.0 per cent).

However, it was higher than in China (0.6 per cent) and Thailand (0.4 per cent). — Bernama